Two Princes
by Godsspiker
Summary: COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED. Why now, why her, why him, why this set of circumstances? They could ask that question all day, and get nowhere fast until they stop and take it for what it is. Perhaps then the three of them will be euphoric.
1. Chapter 1

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Two Princes

Sesshoumaru/Kagome ficlet

Chapter One:

Introductory sentence:

Kagome could only swim in the fishbowl for so long...

* * *

One could never get used to routine when one wasn't used to what was considered _normal_ routine. Which was truth in words. Of course, that was about all that the final battle had left her. With Naraku's defeat came hudreds of pros, and cons that only seemed to apply to Kagome herself. She would be gone, and certainly missing from the group, but wasn't that kind of a pro for them? Fanning her fingers as she propped her head on her home-made meta-carpal pillow, she absently studied the long fingernails and creases in her knuckles. Upon further inspection, she could find callouses from endless days of training and shooting up random trees with her purifying power in order to be completely self-assured she could draw and demolish her enemy in a second. The battle, now that it was thought on, had been about as gruesome as they'd expected. Kagome almost thought Sango might not make it through after learning Naraku had already killed Kohaku and was simply using the boy as a corpse puppet. If not for the rage she'd released after finding out, the last battle might not have been won.

And both Miroku's cursed hands helped win the battle. Before Sango's rescue was rudely interrupted by the crude declarations of the cursed hanyou and his vassals, he'd managed to get in a pretty thorough grope, which only served to spark her anger. Needless to say, it was over. Inuyasha had managed to get the jewel shards from Naraku, but she'd been faster. The hand she'd been studying clasped suddenly over something hovering outside her reach.

For as much as she loved Inuyasha.. She couldn't bear seeing him as a full demon. She'd outright denied him the Shikon-no-Tama and managed to hold her own as she fended the angry hanyou off to escape.

_"No!" She cried out, stumbling her way through the forest like the klutz she routinely was. Kagome could hear him now, advancing on her. Branches snapped, birds took flight as the bloodlust broke through the clearing with her. Not even turning to acknowledge his presence she hopped over the well's lip, adrenaline flooding her._

Dirt met her feet, and she'd nearly passed out in relief, but she'd still been wary that he would jump in after her. It hadn't taken her long to convince grandpa to take the jewel and hide it carefully under layer after layer of powerful sutras. And after that, she sat in the corner of the shrine she'd hidden the jewel at, waiting, watching. According to her family, she hadn't moved for two days, waiting for him to come and claim what was rightfully his, before they finally dragged her kicking and screaming from the corner. Kagome had kept the jewel, hidden it away somewhere that nobody would ever find it again. Of that she was assured.

Putting a hand over her throbbing heart, pushing down the pain of losing so much so long ago, she propped her elbow-turned-pillow up beneath her and planted her feet on the floor. Now she was a storyteller. It wasn't that she was proud of the way she wrote, or even that she wrote well! She simply had a story to tell, and was gifted by some cruel God of fate to write semi-decent. Enough to tell the tale and have people smitten with it. Going to the window of her newly rented appartment, she gazed longingly out the window as rain poured over the ground.

"I'm happy, you guys. I wish you could see what your stories mean to the people here." She chuckled, moving from the window and letting the lace curtain fall to the side. Four years of succesful writing, editting, and even artwork had lead to her own appartment as well as thoroughly devoted fans and rumors of an anime coming out to honor her work. It was all exciting to her best friend and editor, Mita, whom was reaping just as many benefits as she was from the popular series, _Inuyasha_.

Kagome took her time getting into the shower, rinsing off the evening sweat and dressing. Her latest deadline had been met early, so she was in no rush to get to the meeting that Mita insisted she go to. As it were, her stories had intrigued Rumiko Takahashi into re-creating the group and story in a manga. Today she would be seeing premliminary drawings as well as rough sketches for the new characters. She pulled a dark red sweatshirt over her head before pulling a pair of dark blue jeans over her hips. Kagome ran a towel through her hair, combing her fingers through the unruly locks of black hair with a sigh as she examined her appearance carefully, applying a bit of chapstick to her lips before nodding with a small smile.

"Lets go!" She huffed, snatching up the bag containing a small laptop that she would need for notes and such.

The young Lord looked over his domain once again, completely bereft at how low humanity had taken the beautiful forests of Japan and thrown them in the local dumps. Well, young was just a matter of who knew who, for Sesshoumaru was well over one-thousand years old. His neighbor rather liked him, an old human woman of 78 years old and stubborn as his own mother. She, not being a youkai, believed him to be mid-twenties, which he had decided to go with as a cover for his true age. He didn't think people would believe him if he said he was exactly one-thousand, two hundred and fifty some-odd years old. One loses count after so long.

Humanity had taken the reigns, and demons had gone into hiding. As the new, inventive weapons humans were creating to destroy said beings, Sesshoumaru had quietly joined a mass of them as he sank into the backgrounds of change. He hadn't done so without first taking out a majority of those that had challenged him and his authority over the western lands he felt so protective of. In removing naturual threats to the growth of healthy community where he lived, his presence was the curse that people put on living in Western Japan. Now he wasn't more than a supersticion, but he wasn't above killing the occasional ant of a human that made his dwelling uncomfortable.

As it were, he rather enjoyed his roof-top complex, filling it with natural plants growing in fertile soil to make a mini haven for himself when he wasn't out patrolling the city streets. Said demon was currently in said mini haven, enjoying the cool scent of rain as he leaned on the door post of the appartment complex he owned.

"Yoo hoo! Sesshoumaru-sama!"

His shortened, humanified ear twitched at the old biddy's voice. Turning and heading down the stairs of the rooftop garden he'd cultivated, he went to the next floor where he found Miho Suzuki, the little old woman, standing with a small wicker basket in her hands.

"Just wanted to leave you with the usual. I know how you prefer the salty taste in whatever you eat." She said with a crass, knowing smile. The old baracuda of a woman thrust the basket in his direction. "Kettle corn for you. I'm sure you'll like this batch."

Sesshoumaru's face was carefully blank, but for her sake, he raised an eyebrow as he brought the basket to his nose and sniffed carefully. Old habits die hard, but the old woman seemed to have no qualms of his sniff test. The odor it was emitting was far from unappetizing. In fact, the curious sweet and salty scent made his saliva thicken with anticipation of eating Miho's newest creation.

"You haven't any need to make me these, Miss Suzuki." he said, his unwavering baritone came, eyeing the old woman with what could almost be affection as the old woman batted his arm playfully.

"I can't have my landlord becoming thin from his inability to cook." She teased him. Once. Only once had he tried to cook anything with the old woman, and he'd nearly burned the complex down around his ears. If it hadn't been for his demonic senses and strength, that would have been what happened without doubt.

"Thank you, Suzuki-san. Your efforts in retaining this Sesshoumaru's health are well appreciated."

The old woman giggled, oddly enough, and waved goodbye as she headed for the elevator located just around the corner. The Dog-Demon watched her leave with a calculated golden gaze, which flicked down to the covered basket he was holding. Pushing aside the towels that obscured the prize, he found golden treasure. Popcorn. Sesshoumaru blinked at it before picking up a small morsel and studying it carefully. A delicious scent was there. Why was it that the small peice of corn didn't appeal to his visual senses?

Without further hesitation, he popped the piece into his mouth and chewed slowly, thoughtfully, then swallowed. He again quietly looked over the small bunch he'd been given and let a smile haunt his features, heading for the stairs of the enormous complex as he popped another few peices in.

It was the beginning of a good day, of that Sesshoumaru was sure.

Just in time! The train was just about to leave for the afternoon, and it hadn't cleared up any. The meeting with Rumiko Takahashi and Mita Ryu, as well as some of the editors for the manga and the books. They were well pleased with the chapter she'd done before hand, one of the many stories of demon slaying she'd collected, and the design of book four's characters were spot on. Rumiko had done her homework, Kagome had noted. She was well pleased with Takahashi's sketches, and almost broke out into tears upon seeing Sango and Miroku's character designs. It was like Rumiko was right there with her when she first met Sango, staring into the determined brown eyes. She squeezed onto the train as she unburied herself from her thoughts and seated herself across from another woman. Then she did a double-take.

Day by day, it was all Kagome could do not to stare at some of the... Humans... That passed by. This was what the world would never see, she figured. When she'd first begun spotting demons in a crowd, she had to stop someone and ask them if they saw the green head sticking out among brown and black. All the time, people would just look at her like she was nuts and walk on. Once, she been in an elevator with such a character, having the facial markings as well as the hair. It seemed to notice her staring and grew rather uncomfortable, shooting a well aimed glare in her direction before looking away again and bolting out of the elevator.

She was now trying not to let her shifty gaze be caught lingering too long on a dark haired woman that seemed normal upon first glances, but had enormous red pupils and irises with matching coloured slashes on the lids of her eyes. Sitting just across from her on the bus was a bit unnerving, and Kagome had always wondered if they could feel her old preistess powers like the demons of the Feudal Era. The train lurched and tore her gaze away from the woman, bringing her thoughts back on the next chapter of _Inuyasha_ that was due. Perhaps she would write a few more chapters, and then take a vacation. Her self-imposed hell of memories brought shame and guilt. Tapping a finger against her lip, she wondered where she would even vacation.

Kagome glanced back up at the woman again and found her staring in Kagome's direction. Now she was unable to look away, as the woman's eyes captivated her. There was something wrong with the way she looked...

_Watch out!_

Kagome didn't even have a chance to scream when the glass shattered, a scream going up that chilled her to the bone, and sudden force throwing her towards the demon she'd been looking on. Her breath was yanked from her as she hit the demon girl with enough force to completely shatter any other normal woman's every bone.

He could hear the sound. It was like a thousand banshees screaming in agony through the night. The sound was nails on a chalkboard to his sensitive ears. It wasn't quite that that drew him to it. He wasn't a vigilante for justice, like so many ridiculous American comics portrayed, but there was a flash of two conflicting aura smashing into one another. The combined difference of their power was enough to draw any curious powerful youkai. When he arrived at the wreckage, the stench of human blood hit his nose first. Crying humans could be heard from the mangled form of the train that had been derailed. Smoke, blood, and salt combined made his gut twist as he perused the scene. Jumping down from the building he was standing on, he came close to it.

"Hello!" He called. Carefully, he weaved around the wreckage, walking gracefully over the torn metal of the cars. "Hello! Is anyone in there?"

It was eerily silent, and with the scent of blood wafting through the air, Sesshoumaru didn't doubt that it was very possible there weren't any survivors. The wind shifted, ruffling his carefully tied back hair and carrying another scent in it's wake. He turned his head toward the prickle of demon blood that was hiding among the human blood and honed in on its location. Soft groans met his ears.

"Hello?" He repeated.

"nnnnggg... please.."

Sesshoumaru found the broken windows of the train and leaned over them to find the woman resposible. The blood flared, and there was one heartbeat... for the two women that were lying in the wreckage. The demoness was pinned beneath a human girl who had taken the full brunt of the broken glass. It seemed that the bar went through the human and into the demon's shoulder, not much more than a flesh wound for a demon, but the wound was fatal for the human girl.

"Help her, please.." The demoness whimpered. "Her blood... stings..."

Sesshoumaru looked back at the girl, and took the pipe in one hand. It made a sickly _squelch_ as he yanked it out, drawing a cry of pain from the demoness.

"Get the preistess off!" She screamed. "She burns!"

Sesshoumaru quickly picked the human up from the demoness, only to be completely shocked at his finding. Staring up at him was the lifeless face of Kagome Higurashi, writer of the series _Inuyasha_ and Shikon no Tama guardian. Power pulsed off her in waves despite the obvious grip of death on her. Instinct motivated Sesshoumaru to quickly get her back to Tenseiga and revive her. Using all of his demonic power he morphed into his spirit ball, breaking through one of the windows of his complex and allowing the mist to pour into his luxurious top suite. He gently lay the broken body across his crisp white sheets, permanently staining them with blood. He would take care of them later. His hands worked on their own accord, slicing through the red sweater with ease. The bra she wore was stained red with blood, but not in the way, so he stripped the body of the sweater. Moving swiftly across the room, he went into his study and reached for the sword resting in the sanded wooden showing case nailed above his desk on the wall. It pulsed in his hand, knowing it's master's call. Sesshoumaru stood above the dead girl's body, ready to be rid of the monster surrounding her soul but stopped. A faint glimmer through her blood caught his eye. Reaching over towards the hole in her chest, he felt the simmer of purifying power. His demon blood boiled, and beat a little faster as his claws tore a little more into the open chest cavity, where her heart was. It singed, and stung like a hive of bees stinging his fingers at once, but he ignored the pain and felt around the flesh for the glimmer he'd seen. After a moment of searching through muscle and bone, his fingers fell upon something smoothe and hard. He dug the claws of his middle, fore-finger, and thumb around the object and pulled it out.

After he grasped the foriegn object, he swung the sword and demolished the imps around her body, restoring her health to her. The wounds stopped bleeding and knit themselves together, working with her miko powers. The girl's body took a shaky breath in, hissing in pain as it began to live again. Her heartbeat had returned, her breathing was unstable but working. He placed the two items in his hand on the the closest nightstand and went to the curtains, pulling them closed lest one of his pervertted neighbors peek in to watch him.

Now he was required to remove the stench of human blood, which he knew would take hot water and a small fire. He would give the girl a sponge bath, and burn the bloodied clothing in the bathroom. It would be easier to dispose of ashes.

_Such a burden... Why have I done this again?_

That was another thing to think about. He would need a viable excuse for having her awake in one of his shirts. In his bed.

_What a bother..._

As for the power pulsing in his hand, he knew it the moment he saw the pink tinge to the small orb he'd pulled out of her chest cavity. It was the object of his brother's wrath, that which he'd haunted the Bone Eater's well like a madman.

The Shikon-no-Tama rested in his palm, radiating the power Inuyasha had covetted until his death. He put on the desk of his study the Shikon Jewel and Tenseiga and left them to keep one another company as he went about doing the tasks he'd set. Another thing. He would have to explain his presence, and she would have to explain hers.

_Such a troublesome crime I've committed against fate._

xXx

Sesshoumaru now knew the meaning of trouble. It came in the form of an unconscious five hundred and seventy-three year old preistess from his past. Having started a fire in the bathroom wasn't the wisest of all moves, but the bloody clothing was gone. There would be no salvaging it and he had no want of the scent in his home after he'd changed the sheets to his bed and burned them along with the miko's clothing. As for clothing the miko... The best he could do was take one of his crisp white dress shirts and slip it over her arms, button the middle button and leave it at that while she slept. It had been awkward enough running a warm, wet towel over the crusted blood on her chest as she slept and mumbled almost obscene comments.

As of the current, he was resting in his sitting room that shared his bedroom toying with the glasses that he wore commonly out in public. Not that he needed them. Just another part of his human disguise. He refused to hide his silver hair, and didn't make any excuse for having it. They could call him albino for all he cared. And it didn't mather whether or not he had the same colour hair the elderly, it didn't seem to deter the number of times young women gazed lustily at him. Curse his infernal nose for being so sensitive to such things. In this era, it was impossible not to scent it wherever he tended to be.

As he fiddled with the glasses, he listened to the unconscious miko's heartbeat and breathing. Since he'd brought her back, she'd been stable, but hadn't broken out of her coma like the others he'd brought back with the sword, and was going on her second day of sleep. Most of them simply snapped out of their death state like they'd been slapped. The miko was a new case. Perhaps she was holding onto death for reasons personal to her, and uknown to him. He took a silver strand of his hair and brought the tip up for his inspection. If she didn't return to wakefulness soon, old Lady Suzuki was bound to come knocking at his door. Explaining the blood still visible through the thin cotton of his shirt would be difficult enough, and explaining to the preistess why he'd removed it and even what she was doing here would be just as hard. Sesshoumaru tossed the glasses on the floor and flicked the strand of hair away as he leaned back in the chair he sat in, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. It would be easier to just drop the girl off at a hospital and taken flight. He should while she was still asleep.

xXx

_There he was. Standing on a bright red bridge crossing a stream, his silver white hair and dog ears perked, he was a welcome vision. Kagome wanted to move, to call out to him, but she couldn't. Her feet were frozen in place, her voice wouldn't work. She prayed he looked her way, but he seemed too distracted with the tulip blossoms reaching out over the bridge. One striped wrist reached for a tulip, cupping it delicately in clawed hands.._

_Striped? Kagome looked again. His wrists were striped, markings of full demons. When? She tried to call him and heard nothing. Move... Move! She commanded herself._

_'Inuyasha...'_

xXx

She pulled in a desperate breath and snapped into wakefulness, trying to stop the flood of tears that suddenly began to pour over her face. It was only a dream. Just a dream. Kagome took in deep sobbing breaths and willed the tears away, wiping them away fervently as she clenched her knuckles and pressed them into her eyes. When she'd collected herself, she took another pull of air and breathed out slow. She had to hear it.

"It was just a dream.." She heard herself say. Her eyes found the cuffs of a very expensive white shirt that was draped around her, barely covering her modesty. She also found she was in a very foreign bed, not uncomfortable, but just.. Unusual.

Slipping her feet off the bed and carefully onto a lusciously soft white carpet, she rubbed her forefinger along her eye to remove the sleep from them as she gazed around the room. It was empty. There was no soul in this room, simply the bare essentionals. As big as it was, you'd think it'd be filled to the brim with accessories, but no: a large black metal framed bed with crisp white sheets still mussed from her sleep with small one drawer nightstands and a lamp on her right, a sleek black desk with minimal desk drawers, a matching black glass cup for pens, and a black lamp tucked by a wall, which was painted with simple white paint.

She stood slowly, her muscles stiff as she maneuvered toward the long curtain hung on the left wall and nearly gasped upon finding it wasn't a wall; it was a window with a ceiling to floor veiw. The sky was gray, the morning misty and dull as most shadowy winter days were since she'd come back from the feudal era.

The question still remained, despite her careful observation of the room: _Where am I?_

Kagome started at the sound of someone clearing their throat, her head snapping to attention at the sound. It was about that moment that her heart beat a little faster, her stomach sank, and she prayed she was blind or simply imagining things.

"Sesshoumaru?"

Was it just her that felt she sounded utterly pathetic?

"Higurashi. This Sesshoumaru would feel more comfortable if you not pass out." He said, his head tilted in her general direction from the hall he'd appeared noiselessly from. "You were injured. This Sesshoumaru brought you here that you might be healed."

Kagome stared at him, still feeling a bit queasy. It was like looking at a ghost, or seeing someone pop up from the grave.

"I-I don't understand. Why was I brought here? What happened?"

_Glass shattered, the metal wheels shrieking and the frame squealing in protest as she was flung forward towards the demoness across from her. Though she was still pretty banged up from the initial flinging, it was another scream of metal that did her in. A bar from behind her had been snapped off from the force of the train's derailing, and Kagome felt fire spread through her chest._

"The train..."

"Correct. This Sesshoumaru was in the vicinity, and does not know what came over him that he should save _you_, of all creatures." He commented offhandedly.

Kagome threw the Demon Lord a glare befitting her old nature but didn't utter a word against him.

"I died, didn't I?" She asked quietly, after a moment of carefully thought out silence. She didn't look up from her figitting fingers to see his most-likely expressionless face.

"You did." He answered tonelessly. Now she looked up at him, hate pouring over her tearing eyes.

"Why didn't you just let me die?" She demanded coldly, struggling with the salty warm liquid that wanted to spill down over her cheeks.

Sesshoumaru looked over the creature sitting on his bed with one of the most unusual feelings he'd felt since the day he'd given up his swords and begun to walk without them: Pity.

"Should this Sesshoumaru have known what you'd wanted, he would have left you there and saved the demoness instead." He retorted quietly. The scent of salt was in the air, like a stale ocean breeze on a muggy morning. There were no words he could say, no comforting thoughts he could part ways with her on.

"Your clothing is non-exhistent. I had to burn it."

Higurashi said nothing, only continuing her wallow in self-pity.

"This Sesshoumaru will be back within a few moments. Please refrain from leaving the suite until I return."

Her gaze finally fell on him, a spark of the old firey miko he'd seen once on the battle field when he'd had the pleasure of sharing it with his half-brother.

"What makes you think you can keep me here?"

Higurashi sounded almost defiant. It brought back old memories... Those that were more enjoyable.

"Your lack of clothing, Higurashi-san."

A bright red color filled her palid cheeks as she huffed and worked her mouth like a fish.

"While your immitation of the koi is amusing, this Sesshoumaru has things to do. If you'll excuse me." He said, turning on his heel and stalking towards the door. The glasses he'd been fiddling with were in his white cotton shirt's breast pocket. He headed down the hall, past the kitchen on the left and opened the door on the right to pull out an umbrella. Sesshoumaru hesitated with the glasses for a moment, turning them as he blankly studied the two pieces of glass on the carefully sculpted black frames. It was a sign of humanity, him wearing such contraptions. Oh how the mighty had fallen, oh how Inu-Taishou would have laughed to see his son reduced to such lengths of preservation. The pads of his fingers ached to crush them, grind the glass up into dust, and sprinkle it over the heights of the city in rebellion.

Instead, he pushed away his irritation and pulled the door open as he placed the glasses upon the bridge of his nose.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I thought I might bring you a chicken-bean soup!" Old Lady Suzuki said, her beaming face appearing in his doorway. The old lady was holding a relatively large pot, particularly for one person to eat, dressed in an old kimono he'd complimented her on the one time she'd worn it for the cherry-blossom viewing. A muscle in his jaw jerked at her inconvenient timing.

"My apologies, Suzuki-san, but now is not-"

"I even brought my finest china to serve you, Sesshoumaru-sama, the least you could let me do is lcome in." She argued, squeezing past his broad form and heading into the kitchen. Instead of following his protests, she'd welcomed herself.

"Sesshoumaru, I -" Kagome started, her footsteps padding down the hall towards the kitchen where she stopped and stared at the old woman, who, in turn, stare right back. A blush began to rise on both of their faces.

"Well had I know Sesshoumaru-sama was expecting guests, I would've made more for the two of you!" Old lady Suzuki said, hiding her embaressment at catching the young, shirt clothed woman in his appartment. Oh how Father was laughing now. He swore to the heavens that the moment he arrived and met his father, whom would be unabashadly rolling on the floor with laughter, he would send him straight to hell.

"Very well, Suzuki-san. If you insist upon waiting on me, please feed myself and my guest. I will be back in a few moments." He said, excusing himself from further awkward conversation.

No doubt her scent would pop up somewhere in this disaster of a city.

xXx

Kagome stood there for the longest time in the hallway, dressed in nothing less than Sesshoumaru's white dress shirt that was three sizes too big. Suzuki-san seemed to be minutely uncomfortable as well, as she worked the kitchen as though she owned it. After a few more awkward moments, she decided that she would attempt to explain herself.

"Its not what you think..?"

_**That**__ sounded convincing._

The elderly woman had on a traditional Fuedal era kimono, pastel green on with creme underrobes and a duller orange obi. It was a lovely, soothing colour coordination for a kimono, most likely recently made by a custom kimono maker, Kagome deduced. The woman had also pulled her silver hair up in a comfortable, but very traditional style for Old Japan.

"And what do I think, young woman?" The old lady said quickly, still fussing with the china she'd brought. "Lucky I'd brought a spare plate.. That poor boy always manages to break my dishwear..."

Finally the old woman brought her hazel brown eyes to Kagome's.

"I would think that whatever I would think in the situation is irrelevant, shouldn't you? Am I to pass judgement on a young man and woman in love?"

Kagome's eyes widened with doe-eyed panic.

"N-no you see, thats the thing! We aren't like that!" She exclaimed, and upon the outburst, immeadiately regretted it. If the old woman had things put together a certain way now.. Kagome sighed with helpless frustration.

"Once again, what I think is quite irrelevant. Even if one were to think what I'm sure your thinking now after your thoughtless words, Sesshoumaru-sama isn't like that." She said with an air of finality as she laid out her cookware on the appartment's up-to-date stovetops. She shuffled around the kitchen like she owned it, like it was she that lived here and not Sesshoumaru.

But what she said about him, rather than what the old woman was doing was what stuck with Kagome.

_"..Sesshoumaru-sama isn't like that..."_

She'd said it out of knowledge of his character, out of who he was. The demon that Kagome had written about seemed like a complete one-eighty to this... Human. Kagome leaned against the wall that lead into the kitchen and watched Old Woman Suzuki go about herself, setting plates out and carefully laying two sets of chopsticks out.

"Can I help you with anything?" She finally asked, walking over to the older woman. Suzuki look up with kind brown eyes.

"Here now..."

xXx

Sesshoumaru had a little bit of an idea what Kagome's size was, seeing as she'd been the latest mention in an informative Tokyo pop-culture magazine. Her books were booming with popularity, and mentions of manga and movies, as well as an anime to accompany it were growing wildly in dozens of magazines. At one time, Sesshoumaru had picked up the magazine, seen the face of the wench that Inuyasha had carried all over the place with him, and almost gone crazy. How? When had she? Why? What caused her to come here? What was she doing here? So many questions, one right after the other. He'd been sorely tempted to find her out and interogate her, see what the magic was behind the spell that had kept her young for the five hundred years after he'd seen her. At one time, he'd been so obsessed with finding out how she'd gotten here, he'd had his connections give him Higurashi's full schedule of book tours. Silently, he'd watched in the background as she discussed his history with dozens of young women and men, curious to find out what would happen next before she was ready to give them her next sequel.

He strolled down the street as he reminisced over his first human impulse: obsession. It had dissipated after a time, about two years to be more precise, and now he had the object of his previous desires, dressed in naught more than _his_ dress shirt and cotton underwear. Sesshoumaru scowled distastefully as he thought of becoming obsessed with a human woman, even in platonic ways. Just thinking about becoming as enthralled with the women these days as his father had made his stomach coil in disgust. He didn't walk to far before he gave up the search for her house and stopped at a clothing store to pick out something for her to wear. The moment he walked through the doors, he knew he'd have problems. The womens section was enormous, filled with jeans that looked alike but sold for two-hundred dollars apiece, give or take depending on the brand. Shirt after shirt was lined up on the racks, and he hadn't any idea what she'd liked.

Sesshoumaru's brow raised. Where had that line come from? He waded into the misery of human clothing in search of something for Kagome, not caring what he would pick out. A white tee-shirt and white washed jeans, the same size as the magazine had stated from Kagome's article two years ago. He looked across the way at the women's lingerie and shuddered. _No. Absolutely not._

But of course, he'd burned her bra. She would need one if she were going to wear a white shirt. He started towards the department then stopped. He hadn't the slightest clue what size she was, despite the lecherous suggestions in many of the popular Male magazines. He was about to turn and head for the cash register, but hesitated. Then he rethough again, only to be faced with the same conflict. He _had_ burned her clothes. They would need replaced. The dilemma continued for about ten minutes before the young woman at the cash register came towards him and smiled expectantly.

"Having problems?" She asked, her head nodding towards the lingere.

"No." He answered blandly.

"Looking for your girlfriend?" She asked. "I'll help you out if you need it."

The young woman was insistant.

"No, she isn't my female. I'm simply looking for Kagome, I seemed to have.." Sesshoumaru paused before completing the sentence. "She simply needs a new bra."

The girl nodded and guided him into the women's section.

"Nothing expensive, just a temporary replacement."

The girls cheeks seemed to heat, and her body temperature went up. Sesshoumaru sighed internally. He'd embarassed her. Why is it that humans always think with their minds in the gutter?

"O-okay. Alright, so just look really fast and see if you can see her size here."

Humiliating, was about the only word that he could conjure up for the description of the moment about now. He hadn't exactly been studying Kagome's cup size when he'd laid her on his bed as she bled to death. But when he burned the bra, he remembered the numbers that were smeared with blood on the back of her ruined undergarment.

"Higurashi-san wears a 26 A. This means?..." He inquired, looking back at the girl. To his interest, the girl had blinked at him.

"Kagome Higurashi, as in, the Writer, Higurashi?" She asked. Sesshoumaru snorted with impatience.

"The size, wench." He growled. The girl was still looking at him in astonishment, but managed to find a generic white bra with the numbers matching the old one. The girl was quiet for the rest of the buying process, but he whiffed something affoot.

"My gratitude for you help." he said, leaving a hundred dollar bill on the counter as he turned and walked out the door.

Asaka on the other hand, had more interesting things to do. What else do you do when someone with such style and attractive attributes (coughbuttcough) comes in and starts buying clothes for Kagome Higurashi? She picked up the black phone on the desk of the cash register.

"Hi there, my name is Asaka Jiotabi! I think I have some pretty interesting news for your magazine..."

xXx

Sesshoumaru arrived at his appartment complex about ten minutes later. Rather than the elevator, he took the stairs with no apparent desire to rush into any more embarassing situations. At first, he contemplated what Kagome would think when he returned with a bra in the correct size, seeing as he was indeed male, and he had spent many years studying the ever exciting ways of humanity. Perhaps she would find it humorous. To be bluntly honest at best, she would merely slap him for his interesting observance. At worst, she would completely purify him, if her miko powers were still active. So in essence, he only lost his life.

A snort worked its way from his mouth. How was it that only 24 hours with the female and he was off, cavorting around the city on a mission? Higurashi made life... minutely... interesting. Of course, there was still Old Lady Suzuki in his appartment, presumably cooking dinner. Sesshoumaru topped the second floor's set of stairs, another four sets of stairs to go. Women. He would blame his bland life's sudden colourful change of heart on the appearance of the opposite sex. Father had warned him at one time to be cautious of this. A small voice in the back of his mind began to speak up. _It almost seems that you ignored me, and are rewarded for your waned vigilance from years before.._ Followed by an earily I-Told-You-So chuckle. So he couldn't avoid women! The world was full of them!

_**Human**__ women, son. __**Human**__ women._

Sesshoumaru had cleared the second of four shaking his head.

"If not for the fact a human shrink would be unable to diagnose several hundred _years_ of family problems due to the fact demons rarely see psychiatrists for family issues, this Sesshoumaru should problably admit to being slightly... put out, today." He muttered in admittance, starting on the next flight of stairs.

xXx

Sesshoumaru opened his door and entered his kitchen to Kagome bent over his table in those white cotton panties and his dress shirt. He blinked at her for a moment, without change in expression, before a shudder went up his spine and he averted his gaze.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Welcome!" The old woman said, announcing his presence before he managed to find his voice. He looked up again and found Kagome eyeing him warily. It would appear that five-hundred years of absence didn't wane her distrust of him. Figures, her writings tended to portray him as a snotty nosed Prince of Demons with a quick temper, fast sword, and very pretty hair.

"I have returned with spoils from the American inspired 'Banana Republic'." He tossed the bag onto his counter, brushing past both ladies and seating himself at the table. "You will change before rejoining this Sesshoumaru and Lady Suzuki."

He saw her profile stiffen momentarily before she went to claim the bag, rather roughly, before quietly padding out of the kitchen with dark clouds brewing overhead.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I've prepared a hot pot with fresh sashimi and salted, dried kelp." Old Lady Suzuki said, looking quite pleased with herself. Sesshoumaru meagerly nodded his pleasure, the scent of cooked beef broth and a few greens mixed in with hearty chunks of meat teasing his appetite.

She _hated_ it. That tone dripping with disdain and maddening cynisism just made her so... Kagome fought not to simply hop with rage, fought not to let the irritated squeal pass her lips. Otherwise she'd walk into the dining room to that horrible ghost of a smirk he always used to have when he'd been proven that yes, he was intelligent at times.

_Focus on something else..._

She calmly rooted around in the bag through the paper the Republic usually wrapped their clothes in and drew out a pair of washed-out jeans and a white, long sleeved shirt made of flexible Egyptian cotton. All she really expected, of course, but wearing a white shirt without a bra would be a bit uncomfortable.

_You've been through worse... Like that time Inuyasha tripped over your back pack and knocked all your spare tampons in the fire. That was hell..._

And using the olden days' sheaths... Not fun. It was about as fun as wearing a biodegradable pad. When she rifled through the leftover papers in the bag for the receipt, hoping to pay him back for the clothes when she got home, she discovered that there was another piece of cloth laying in the bottom of the bag.

Drawing it out by one strap, she was horrified to find Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands in the Feudal Era and Lord of Terror, had gone and bought her a... very expensive looking bra. One glance of the size tag and her face flared red.

He'd even guessed her size right! Rage and embarassment washed through her, and yet she couldn't find it in her to complain that he'd given her something to cover her bosom a bit more modestly. So instead of stomping into that kitchen and giving him the pleasure of seeing her absolutely beside herself, she would simply do this:

_Sesshoumaru, _

_Thank you for the clothing from the Republic, though I must say the bra wasn't really necessary. Good to know the male species didn't change after five-hundred years, you perverted bastard._

_Higurashi Kagome_

And while it was rather tempting to add a couple names to the list floating around her brain for the silver-haired dog demon, she would rather make her escape while her note was still fresh with anger as she signed her name at the bottom of the note furiously. She made no attempt to hide her departing, seeing as she took the blood spattered shoes from beside the bed where he'd meticulously lain them with her bag, threw them on, and padded noisily to the door. She flung the door open and slammed it behind her, sighing with relief at the elevator. Of course, she hadn't any want for more embarassing situations if she were called back while she were on the stairs. Old Lady Suzuki had given her plenty enough embarassment by walking into the appartment of Sesshoumaru and finding her in close to nothing.

Punching the first floor for the elevator, she slumped onto the savvy metal bar of the stylish silver elevator. A doctors appointment would be in order, as well as a really big cup of Starbucks Tokyo coffee. As soon as she found her phone buried somewhere in her lucky bag.

As soon as she'd managed to hail a cab, get home, and open her door after jamming the cursed lock that didn't like her key, she was exhausted. Spent, perhaps was a better word for it. She carefully laid out her computer on the small black retro couch she'd bought for her studio appartment, peeling off the garments Sesshoumaru had bought her, and sank into a feather filled mattress. The covers swallowed her presence hungrily, wrapping around her bare body like they would eat her alive. The best covers in the world, Mita had claimed, and she was right on.

_Sesshoumaru..._

It was about that moment that it hit her. Kagome slowly sat up with one very thick comforter covering her chest as it tightened like a panicking bird about to be swallowed whole by a cat.

_Sesshoumaru is alive.. And here, in Tokyo._

She blinked once, and rethought the two sentences a few times before carefully lying back with her brows drawn close together in contemplative silence.

"Sesshoumaru.. Alive and in Tokyo.." She repeated to herself. As if hearing it would make her believe it anymore. For a moment, she wondered if she would break in half, but stopped herself.

"Alive. But... different. Maybe..."

She didn't have to say the second part out loud. A small part of her wondered as another part prayed he was like his brother this time. What if he'd survived the hundreds of years? And if he had, would he have... Would he have at all changed, like his half-brother had?

* * *

**A/N: SORRY GUYS! I just had to revise it so it would be a longerchapter/shorterstory series. If I'm going to take forever to update, I figured I'd make it well worth reading over a period of time... theres that and I didn't wanna wait a whole freakin WEEK before the next post when I have like, ten chapters half this size ready. Annoying. Really annoying. Hopefully you guys enjoy my revised version, I just wanted to fix the problem before it was a pain to completely revise.**

**Much love! PEACE!**

**GS!**


	2. Chapter 2

Two Princes

Sesshoumaru/Kagome ficlet

Chapter Two: Give It a Week.

* * *

_Judgement day. Kagome was on her knees, begging the demon lord before her to spare her life. As much as she'd tried and failed to get her miko powers to flare up, she couldn't and it left her feeling helpless and pathetic in the face of the towering Dog-Demon. Its k-nine form's fur bristled with power, washing over her in angry waves as a pair of flashing golden eyes glared down on her. _

_Inuyasha stood before her in all his demon glory demanding her life in penance for her trespasses against her. The dog-demon howled in rage, its growl making her hair stand on end._

_"No, no, please forgive me! I did it for your safety, I didn't want you to hurt yourself! Please, I did it to save you from pain!" She continued to plead to no avail. The three story high dog bellowed his rage and lunged forward with snapping jaws, and Kagome screamed and threw up her hands to protect her from god-knew-what..._

To which she abruptly wakened to the feel of a stinging hand on her cheek.

"WAKE UP!" Shouted a shrill female voice.

Kagome lurched forward in the bed and gasped for breath. The comforter tangled around her, and the weight on the other side of the bed was Mita, who was shaking rather badly herself.

"Gah, Kagome. You damn near screamed yourself hoarse this time!" She said, taking a cleansing breath. Mita shook her short, rusty brown head of hair and let out the air slow. "I think you need another session with Dr. Yunaga."

Kagome swallowed dryly and shook her head.

"I'm fine."

Mita's mocha brown eyes drilled her, scowling.

"Yeah, and the rest of your appartment building thinks so too. Kagome, you've been screaming for half an hour. People thought someone was killing you up here! Your lucky I was on my way to see you!" Mita rose and brushed the chunk of hair falling over the left side of her face behind her ear as she headed through the set of curtains Kagome had hung to seperate her bedroom from her living room. "You damn near gave _me_ a heart attack."

It wasn't often that she woke up like this, but it was one reason that made it so hard to move out of her parent's place. When she would wake up like this, her mother was always there and the lingering taste of copper would disappear with her mother's sweet smile. Since she'd moved out on her own, the bile wouldn't go away after bad dreams. She could taste it now. Shoving the covers aside, she moved across the floor to one of the curtains and untied it to give her a moment to change.

"You have that other meeting with Rumiko today. Coffee at the Starbucks on Migi street, right?" Mita said over the counting that was seperated with a counter and cabinets. "I can reschedule it for you if you think you need some time to recup!"

Kagome fought not to roll her eyes as she stepped into a pair of black dress pants before slipping an undershirt on.

"I'm fine, Mita." she flatlined.

"You say that every time, but I still find you waking up like this. I'm scheduling another appointment with Dr. Yunaga." Mita called stubbornly. Kagome heard her cabinets being opened rapidly.

"The strawberry creamcheese is in the fridge, bagels in the pantry next to the fridge. Butter knives in the second drawer right of the dishwasher. And _no_ Dr. Yunaga. The last time I went he.... No Dr. Yunaga, Mia."

Kagome passed through her living room and rounded the counter.

"I already know my condition, I have pills for it, and I've been taking them. I'm fine." Kagome said softly, passing by Mita as she grabbed the drawer open that Mita was still searching for and took two butterknives. The creamcheese lay open on the counter and a thoroughly mutilated bagel lay in half on the counter. According to the both of the doctors she'd seen, she had post-traumatic stress syndrome. Anyone else could develop it after hunting and being hunted by demons in the feudal era for so long.

"I looked at the bottle, Kagome." Mita stabbed her butterknife viciously into the unsuspecting cream cheese. "You haven't."

It was all Kagome could do not to blush at being caught in her lie. Well, what could she say? She wasn't going to win poker night?

"You know I hate taking those pills. If I did, I wouldn't be able to remember-" She caught herself. "I wouldn't be able to really see these ideas as they form. They make me drowsy, and I feel terrible for the rest of the day."

Mita sighed and spread her cream cheese without another word, setting aside her knife when she was satisfied. When Kagome was done with hers, they both leaned onto the counter and into the first bite of their bagels simultaneously, chewing with deliberation as the both thought what to say next.

"Seriously, Kagome. You need a vacation." Mita finally sighed. "I think writing this thing has had you going non-stop, and you're starting to see things."

She didn't look over to her best friend, lest her drowsy eyes let Mia know she was right.

"I've thought about it. But its like every time I try to leave, something happens. It doesn't matter what, but there is always something." Kagome said miserably through her bagel and cream cheese. Mia scooted closer to her on the counter, ducking her head with a silly grin on her face.

"C'mon, lets me and you get outta here and go shopping together. You haven't spent a dime of what you've earned over this thing since you bought that laptop." Mita teased. Kagome scowled at her friends antics at first.

"We'll get a flight to Rome and use your writing as an excuse to leave."

Mia bumped into her elbows and waggled one brow, making Kagome purse her lips to hold back a smile.

"And then we'll blow every last penny on spaghetti, moped tours guided by hot Italian guys, and really ugly lingere!"

At the lingere, Kagome burst out laughing, nearly choking on her portion of the bagel. She swallowed before commenting, knowing that she could very well accidentally suck it down with her next statement.

"Not Italy, somewhere else. And if you even think the Americas, I'm going to stab you and feed you to the wolf-demon tribe." She giggled.

"Yeah, your drawer of ugly lingere is pretty full due to the no-boyfriend-factor..." Mita said thoughtfully. Kagome chucked her shoulder. "Hey hey hey... We at least need to go somewhere that you can get laid."

That earned Mita another good slap.

"Alright, alright! A boyfriend!"

Kagome raised a brow and cocked her head to the side.

"The overseas thing, remember."

"We can vacation here!" Mia exclaimed.

"Not if you are going to make me date. Publicity, remember." Kagome pouted. Mita nodded.

"Duh. I should've thought of that.... Alright then, I say... Quebec. In Canada. I hear all kinds of things are legal there!" Mita said with a wink. Kagome pondered it for a moment. Vacationing sounded divine. Heavenly, in fact. A week away from here could do wonders for her stress levels, all things considered. She would be away from the possibility of seeing Sesshoumaru (whom she still wasn't sure she believed was alive), away from meetings for the future of her past, and away from anybody really associated with her work as long as she kept it that way. It was at least worth a shot.

The beeper on her phone went off, as well as Mita's.

"Crap! Meeting! Lets go!" Mita yowled, grabbing her purse before freezing. "Unless you want to just stay home...?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at Mia, sprinting for the couch to snatch up her purse before beating Mia to the door. She swung it open as she flipped her phone open to silence the annoying beep. Back to the busy life of Kagome Higurashi, writer and demon slayer extrodanaire. It was about that moment she remembered something.

"And I do need you to schedule an appointment with Dr. Chen. I have something I wanted to check up on."

_~*~_

"Cidney, I didn't expect to get in so quickly!" Kagome exclaimed with a bright smile. Cidney Chen stood opposite in the white examining room, glasses neatly arranged over her bright blue eyes. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and her smile was so brilliant it put the over head lights to shame.

"I just heard you had another break down, I didn't want you out there too long." Cidney said softly. Kagome's smile melted.

"That isn't what Mita said, was it?" She asked, dismayed. Cidney shruged her shoulders a bit.

"Your agent didn't really say a whole lot, only that you woke up screaming. Have you been taking the lorazepam that the psychiatrist gave you?"

Kagome sighed. She had originally only wanted to see the doctor to check up on the secret hidden away behind her heart, not to play twenty questions with her doctor on her mental health. And it wasn't even that Dr. Chen was a bad doctor, it was just this issue with her mental health everyone kept bringing up. Kagome wondered if perhaps they would drop it, the PTS would just go away.

"Dr. Yunaga perscribed Valium, and no, I haven't been taking it. The side effects are too strong for it to have a good effect on me." Kagome admitted. For all she knew, Mia had ratted her out on that too. "Listen, I just needed a chest X-Ray. I wanted to check on the implant I had done a few years back."

Cidney shook her head.

"Fine. I just need you to take off your clothes, and change into this." Kagome was handed a sterile gown. "I'll have a nurse come in in a few minutes and have her take the X-Rays, and then we'll talk about this."

Kagome hastily changed into the pastel sea-green gown and waited patiently for ten minutes before the RN came in to get her. Chen was in the X-Ray room, waiting behind the counter with another RN while they took the shots of her chest as she asked. While she stood, her eyes glanced over to see the RN and Chen's faces. Chen hadn't been the doctor when she'd first had her secret stowed away, so she didn't really know what to expect. When she first began making real money with her books, one of the first things she had done was hide what Inuyasha had wanted most: The Shikon Jewel. Kagome had hired a cosmetic surgeon to take the jewel and hide it behind her heart, so she would never have to worry about losing the jewel to something in the future, and since the appearances of demons in her days, the need to hide it grew with every passing year it lay under nothing but sutras.

The surgeon's name was Jinta Otakura, Dr. Otakura, and he'd done an excellent job. The jewel was supposed to be surrounded by vital flesh, and unless one had killing intent to get the jewel, they would not be able to extract it from her without her first being dead, or killing her in the process. Dr. Otakura had needed no explaination, and the extra money he was paid for absolute silence in the matter had kept him very quiet. Unless it was absolutely necessary for the physician to know about the jewel, they weren't informed without permission from herself first. Dr. Chen only knew that she'd had an implant, but didn't know what it was.

Ah well, the fewer that knew the better. Kagome was led out of the room another twenty minutes later, and told to sit on the sterile table until Dr. Chen came in to consult her.

When she did come in, there were no scans in her hands.

"First things first. I want to perscribe a vacation before you see these scans."

Kagome opened her mouth to protest only to be headed up by Cidney.

"Right now our machine's negatives are being fussy. It'll take a bit of time before we can get it up and running one hundred percent, so I'm not keeping necessary medical information from you." She interrupted, holding her hand up. "But I want you to take some time off. Right now, I'm going to write up another perscription for Valium, to cure your sleep disturbances and keep you from tearing someone's head off during the day. One every night before bed or as needed for panic attacks. That means you keep the bottle in your purse."

Cidney turned and scribbled something down on the pad of paper before her, and ripped it off the pad before handing it to her. There were to perscription notes, one the Valium she'd just told her about. The other read something along the lines of, "Get outta town for a week.." Of course, doctor scribble was always a pain in the butt to read. Kagome rubbed her temples to ease away the headache that built.

"Fine. Fine, I'll go on a vacation, but please, schedule me for another appointment when the X-Ray machine is up and running again."

"As soon as you come back, scout's honor." Cidney promised. "Now go on, get out of my office. Your partner told me to tell you that she broke into your appartment while you were gone and packed your bags. You have about," she glanced at her wristwatch, "an hour to get to the airport before the plane she has on hold for you both leaves for Canada. Get."

Kagome blanched at her. Cidney jerked her head for the door with a broad grin.

The airport ushed her in and about as soon as she checked in, she was herded for a plane that had been stored in the back of the airport. A tiny private jet on the runway sat awaiting her arrival.

"Hurry up!"

She could barely hear Mita over the dull roar of the other commercial planes flying out and landing as she trotted for the stairs. Kagome's heart was in her throat, and tears wanted to spill over her eyes as Mita grinned at her with mischeif gleaming in her eyes.

"Mia, you jerk! You could've at least told me you made plans!" She choked. Mia grabbed her in a hug and squeezed her tight for a moment before hauling her onto the plane.

"You and me are gonna go get drunk at least once, throw up, meet a guy, flirt, go on double dates, buy ugly lingere and dance in it, whatever! We will have FUN." She babbled, sitting down in the two seats three rows down. There a few other occupants, but for the most part, they had the little jet to themselves.

"How are we gonna-"

"No. Don't ask, Won't tell." She stated before Kagome could get another word out edgewise.

"Fine. You take me on a vacation, and if I end up on the bathroom floor even once, I'll make you drink whats left." She threatened half-heartedly, wiping her moist eyes. It was going to be a long, awesome week. A moment after they had settled in, a question popped into her head.

"What did you pack for me?"

* * *

_~*~_

* * *

Sesshoumaru finished his meal after Kagome left with Old woman Suzuki for company, found and threw her note in the trash, and went on living. It wasn't in his nature to hold a cloud over her assumptions of his perversion over her (she was the last creature on earth he'd be physically attracted to), so he didn't. Although calling him a bastard was quite unnecessary. Sunday morning started off like most of his Sundays did. He locked his appartment door and walked down the stairs, unhurried and slow paced. There wasn't much place for him to be, thus there was no rush. He'd learned that rushing things only frustrated him, that unless he was carrying a gun (swords were also laughed at today) it wouldn't make the traffic rush of bodies go any faster.

So, with a book on American politics he'd selected in hand, he proceeded to the Bein' coffee cafe only about a mile away. Shiri, the young woman wearing a pair of thick square glasses and black hair pulled back into thin pony he usually had his coffee made by, was there with a smile on her face.

"I have fresh coffee, double brewed just for you, Sesshoumaru-sama. Do you want your creamer today?" She asked sweetly. Though humans were still a distasteful breed, there was the occasional gem in a sea of garbage. Sesshoumaru nodded, giving her a ghost of a smile. It took less than a minute to have his coffee brewed in a small thermos that he'd purchased and kept beneath the counter.

Shiri gave him his coffee with a smile and a 'thank you' for the twenty dollar bill he placed in the tip jar. He was in an unusually good mood today, and hopefully it would stay that way for a while. The sky was still dark as spring was beginning to round the corner. He walked and drank his creamed coffee on his way to a small park that was nestled about another five miles away. The thick book in his hand would prove to be entertaining on his journey, and the park was always filled with humans and their pets on walks. He'd tried before to get a plot of land there, and build his own small complex, but further molesting the land was the last thing he'd wanted. What he had managed to scavenge, he left as it was. The part and his land were side by side, and both were carefully kept.

The walk took about four hours, and by then his coffee had been refilled three times by other shops on the way there. None of them had so much as a smile for him as Shiri did. He hoped she would find his extra tip this morning useful. Sesshoumaru snapped the book closed and carefully removed the faux glasses he'd been wearing. He tucked the glasses into the breast pocket of his white shirt, loosening the bright red knit scarf Suzuki had given him last year for Christmas.

A woman jogged past him in tight black pants and a white tank, huffing as she ran in time with her fast paced music for the trees. Dogs barked in the distance as they ran into one another, children laughing in the cool early afternoon air as swings squealed their protest. Sesshoumaru knew all was peaceful in the park simply by hearing alone.

As soon as he arrived, he stopped by the sand pit, where the children's toys were perched in the soft sand. A little girl and boy were swinging with a look of glee spread across their faces. Sesshoumaru leaned back restfully on the bench. Life went on, routines had been made. It had bothered him at one time, how tame he'd become, and now he wondered whether or not it was all that big of a deal. Lifting his nose as the wind shifted, he detected a faint recognizable scent. There was no face to pair it with, only that he'd scented it before as he'd walked this morning to the park. Irritated with the familiar unfamiliar scent, Sesshoumaru rose from his seat on the bench and headed for the other side of the park.

The walk was as pleasant as it always ways, with the exception of the smelly creature lumbering after him. It appeared that whatever it was was pleased to find him, satisfied with watching him rather than engaging him. Old instinct rose up, and he was tempted to simply turn his claws on the intruder of his personal space. The bloodlust always goaded a bit of poison to dangle from the tips of his claws, and he clenched his hand to stay the desire.

As he reached the gate to his half of the park, he dug out a key to the large padlock of the ivy covered chain link fence and pushed it into the lock. He carefully made sure to lock it once more before sighing in relief at the lush traditional garden before him. This land originally belonged to him and his family, and he would be damned before he would let anyone get ahold of it. It was a safe haven, where only the most traditional of groundskeepers were hired to keep it's beauty at its peak through all seasons of the year. They only appeared once every week, and he'd demanded they stay out of the wilder side of the forest he'd cultivated himself. Seeing as they were creatures of their word, and all of them were over the age of fifty, he never had a problem with his privacy here.

The clean scent of feudal japan wafted here, through his nose and refreshing his senses. Once again, he felt like the deadly demon that walked Japan, taking names and guarding his stake of land against the other imbeciles that lived in the era. Humans were expendable, worthy females were boundless and showed upon his beckon call, and the blood would flow like wine whenever a true battle broke out. Politics and laws provented such things from happening now, and Sesshoumaru had become docile because of it. Or at least thats what his lesser half contented to be.

His claws ran through the thick green brush of a bush as he expanded his conscious to touch the surrounding life forms. In his seven hundredth year, he'd figured out just how that little trick worked, and had used it to his heart's content. Aging wasn't always.... blessed, but it held its perks.

Sesshoumaru wandered a bit further into the garden, the sullied city scent dissapating as he left the touches of what had become reality for a bit of time. _Perhaps_, he thought, _I shall stay just long enough for a small vacation._

_

* * *

**A/N: MUAA HAHA HA HA HA.... Just wait until that week is up. Thats when the party starts. Hopefully, I'll get updated soon, don't expect one for about another two to three weeks. I know that is a long period of time, but I'm not promising anything fast! Keep up, I know you'll love it.**_

**GS!!! (lurves you)**


	3. Chapter 3

Two Princes

Kagome/Sesshoumaru fic

Chapter Three: The Unusual Usual

* * *

One Week Ago:

"_WHAT..._ Did you _do_... to that _drink_...." Mita slurred drunkenly, trying not to sway in the absent wind of the blissfully wasted.

_I think she's catching on..._

Kagome sat perfectly upright with two empty shot glasses before her, looking as though she could really handle her liquor while exchanging unsteady glances with the tender. Not necessarily was Kagome able to hold liquor, but according to the pills in her purse, they weren't to be taken with alchohol. So, when Mita had excused herself to the bathroom before starting in on the drinks, she'd shown her pills and made a deal with the bartender: For every shot or beverage ordered for Kagome, he would dump into Mita's drink and she would drive them home. He would make sure to colour some water up for her and make it look pretty so Mita wouldn't suspect anything. But of course, by round fifteen, Mia was almost unable to speak coherently and Kagome was still relatively sane.

The wonderful young men that escorted them back to their car on night one of the drinking had stayed with them for the week. Touring Canada with them had been wonderfully fun, seeing as they were natives of the land and knew every good bar from Whitehorse to Ottawa.

Now:

It was Monday morning in Tokyo, Japan. And it was raining. Surprise surprise. Kagome hauled her bag, filled with new clothing that had to be bought when Mia realized she hadn't packed anything for her. Or at least thats what she'd claimed. (Problably just another reason to spend her money on something completely unecessary.) So now, she had a rather adorable couple sets of new designer jeans, complete with squiggly lines of pattern on the back pockets, a green sweater/shirt, a tie-back halter top in bright red that covered her belly-button, but flashed the skin of her hips, stomach, and back (slipped into her purchases by Mia), then and short-sleeved white shirt with a mocha stain (thanks to Jim, one of their Canadian escorts), at least four different thin strapped tanks to go beneath an assortment of different club shirts, and even a couple new pairs of shoes that Mita insisted she buy.

"Uuuughhh....." Kagome moaned, dropping the wheeled suitcase at her door and heading for the nearest chair. "Mia, you idiot...."

Thanks to her, Kagome had been dragged onto another club scene, avoiding the gropings of clueless jocks, hate-stares from the primps, and flashing ID to the tenders everytime she went to order a drink. They'd stayed out all night and all morning until the flight was ready to leave. She now thanked heaven she was back home and could easily ignore the vibrating of her phone when Mia called for another club hopping day.

The red blip on her answering machine blared angrily at her, accusing her of being gone for far too long. Pushing the play button, Kagome shut her eyes and listened to the feminine automated voice.

"Message One: Tuesday, 6:30 P.M.:." It started. "Hey Kagome, its Rumiko. Listen, I had a couple of ideas for the manga I wanted to pass by you before I just go for it. If you get this any later than wednesday, don't worry about it. Thanks! Talk to you later."

_Crap.. Missed that deadline by five days.._

"Message Two: Tuesday, 9:00 P.M.:" "Kagome, its your mother! I heard from your landlord about it! Are you alright honey? I'll try your cell phone, but please get back to me! Alright, be careful sweetheart."

Kagome smiled at her mother's concern. Just after she'd landed she'd called her mother and made sure everything was alright. This conversation had taken up about twenty minutes of the cab drive to the hotel she and Mita was sharing, so it got her out of clubbing for a bit.

"Message Three: Wednesday, 4:00 A.M.:." "Kagome, its Rumiko again. Sorry! I was just wondering if you'd gotten my message yet. Call me!"

_No, Takahashi-sama. I haven't gotten your message. Improvise._

"Message Four: Wednesday, 7:00 A.M.:." "This message is for Higurashi Kagome, from the Feudal Times magazine. We just wanted to schedule an interview with you to confirm or deny a few things we heard about, and possible schedule a photoshoot. Call me back, my name is Nina Hitaka, head editor of the gossip column."

_Oh great. So what lies did they print while I was away?_

Usually, the papers would just go ahead and print stupid information whether or not she approved it for the magazines, which usually meant there would be a surprise in some random magazine about the implants she'd apparently gotten while high on some drug she didn't know how to say.

"Message Five: Wednesday, 7:09 A.M.:." "Hi there, this is James Hyung from the International Inquirer. We just wanted to confirm or deny the information that was handed to us this morning from one of our columnists, so if you could give us a call back that would be fantastic. Have a great day."

Kagome's brow furrowed. Message six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and of course fourteen, sixteen, and seventeen, all inquired about information she had yet to see. Something was going on. As she listened on, her twentieth message was from Cidney.

"Hey, Kagome. I just wanted to give you a call regarding those negatives for your X-Rays. We'll have you come in again when you get back from your vacation. Until then, I hope you had fun! See you then."

Ah. Maybe the press caught wind of her doctor's appointment. Suing would be in order for whoever it was that blabbed, but unless Kagome willingly downed coffee to bring about intelligence, she would not be doing anything but revisiting nightmares in bed. And although there were at least another ten messages waiting for her approval before an intensive study of the back of her lids, she made it to where the angry little blip of a light was cleared of messages. Both it and she were now happy. Kagome plodded towards her bed, untying one of the ropes that held back her thick curtain and fell onto the bed. Her shoes flipped off her feet, her jeans were unbuttoned, and her hair was in a mess on the pillow and she was out.

For only five minutes.

The phone rang.

The obscenities that flowed through her brain the moment the blaring of the phone didn't quite make it to her mouth, but a very irritated, "Yes?!" made it clear that whoever it was was interupting something very special.

"I didn't interrupt you and your new _boyfriend_, did I?!" came Mia's very startled voice. Kagome paused for a full five seconds before blinking and carefully replying.

"Huh?"

"According to The National, the Inquirer, Yumi Magazine, and about five other magazines that support your work, you have a very sexy boyfriend with white hair. According to two of the more detailed magazines, a guy came into Banana Republic to buy a pair of jeans, a white spaghetti strapped shirt, underwear, and bra to match for a Kagome Higurashi, and when asked whether or not it was you, he got irritated."

"Please tell me you aren't quoting the magazine, Mia. Please." She groaned.

"Not until 'into'.." Mia snapped. "You've been holding out!"

"Mia..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Mia... I didn't even know until today. And he isn't my boyfriend." She protested softly, taking the phone with her back to the bed. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Well first of all, who is **he**. And if you want to do damage control, let me know." Mia said, suddenly serious. "Its time to schedule a meeting."

"Tomorrow, or so help me Mia, I will shoot you." Kagome threatened. The bite was taken out, thanks to the yawn in the background of it.

"Fine fine, but we have to resolve this before you're unofficially getting married to this guy."

"Right. Sure. Tomorrow."

Kagome hung up the phone, a bit guilty for her grouchiness. But hey, such is the price for hauling her out all night and not letting her sleep on the plane. She fell back into bed, this time without her jeans constricting her, and giggled at the prospect.

_~*~_

This Sesshoumare, however, was not giggling at such prospects. The moment he read the first magazine on the racks as he passed by the Bein' Coffee Cafe, his newly restored temper flared. And it wasn't just splashed all over the pages of the International, it was in magazines he'd never even knew exhisted! His 'farce' with a human girl Higurashi were all based on nothing more than the clothing he'd purchased in an American Brand store, and here they were making it seem as though she and he were having a scandolous afair! Absolutely ridiculous! There was a silent chuckling in the back of his subconscious.

_This is far from funny, father! Its not a laughing matter for the Lord of the West to be courting a __**HUMAN **__for kami's sake!_

The chuckle remained, only louder this time. Certainly, Sesshoumaru'd lost his mind this time. There would be serious consequences to the filth that had begun this ridiculous story, starting with the young woman that began the rumor. First things first though: Whoever the photographer was that had gotten the shots of him in the park was going to answer to him first, even if Sesshoumaru had to resort to the olden days of torture. If he'd not what he wanted by the end of the week, there would be bloodshed.

Now just because there weren't as many demons as there once had been, they were still out there. And many of them knew of his exhistence. He'd already received two of three expected phone calls, the Demon Masters of Japan. The Northern and Southern were both outraged, but after no explanation and equal outrage, he'd convinced them that his affairs would be his, and that they should scrap their human concubines if they wanted to really sink their fangs into his business. It shut the first Master up, and recieved an irritated sigh from the other. The Eastern Demon Master would problably forgo calling. With such a peace treaty with his lands being held as long as they had been, the eagle would just brush it off and tease him about it during the next coffee break.

The appartment was a mess by the time he'd finished answering calls, his pacing thoroughly ruining the thread of his white designer carpet. Perhaps he should've extended his vacation. A knock at his door twisted his silver head towards the door, eyes glaring. He lowered the glasses to the tip of his nose and dared the visitor to knock again. The person was either very brave, or incredibly stupid, for the tapping sounded again. He sped unnaturally to the door, running his teeth over lengthening fangs as he swallowed heavily.

"Well now, I've never seen you look so angry, Sesshoumaru-sama." Old lady Suzuki said, pushing past him into the hall, then turning right, into his kitchen. The scent of something sweet, salty, and delicious wafted from the big wicker basket she was carrying, soothing his frenzied nerves and calming his frantic temper.

"I saw the headlines and knew; You must need something to relax. So here you are!" The old woman placed the new, improved basket on the table and went for the white cabinets on the opposite walls next to the sink to dig out a tea pot.

"You have brought green tea as well for this Sesshoumaru."

"China Green Tips, fresh from the source. Only the best, Sesshoumaru-sama. Now, come sit down and forget about those silly headlines." The old woman shook her head. "Why, back in my day it would've been an embarassment to have your love life broadcasted all over Japan, but it seems you've found yourself quite a looker. A real rich one at that!"

Her words rubbed him wrong and he could feel his temper going back up. He saw her eye him before shaking her well kept bun.

"Come now, I'll finish up the tea and we'll watch a movie. Let the storm pass. Come eat some of this kettle corn, before it gets cold."

Sesshoumaru felt a tug of his brow, but let out a long sigh through his nostrils before resigning himself to his self-appointed house maid.

_~*~_

Kagome entered Dr. Chen's office nearly crawling the next morning. Perhaps she'd overdone the whole sleep thing, and she'd gotten a tad _too _much sleep. Of course, she'd just about dumped the Valium down the drain to avoid taking it, but then remembered the last time that Mita was here. She'd had Jack, the repair guy for the suites there, come in and check the drain. The only thing Kagome could say about the slowly dissolving pills that hadn't made it all the way down: Whoops. Her mother had found a treasure in Mita. Mita had to have been a world-class spy in a past life.

The fresh white waiting room had the curtains drawn to keep in the fresh white colour, lest the dreariness of the gray day leak in.

"Miss Kagome, please come right this way." Yusada-sama said quietly, guiding her towards the examining room. She was handed the green hospital gown upon arrival and instructed to change as before. "Dr. Chen will be right in to see you."

And Cidney was indeed in within ten minutes.

"So how was your vacation."

Kagome knew it'd been coming..

"It was great until I got home and found out I had a boyfriend here."

Cidney chuckled.

"I haven't any idea what his name is, but I guess we had a one night stand, where he completely ruined my bra and panties, only to go to the Banana Republic to replace them. Thats what I've heard anyway."

"Yes, that would be according to the National. It was complete with one of your old pictures and a new one of your buea. I must say, Kagome. I never took you for a grave robber, but according to the descriptions, he's supposed to be pretty cute for a white-haired man."

Kagome paused before looking up.

"White haired?"

Cidney blinked. "You haven't seen your boyfriend yet either? They have a photo in there of the appartment complex you came out of."

"No, white haired. Please tell me he isn't about six four with a really grouchy face."

Cidney went to the small rack sitting beside the examining table where they kept the magazines for the longer waiting patients before motioning Kagome to follow her and handing her the paper.

"The photos are on page 73, and the detailed account is on page 75."

"_Two_? _Two pages_ of pictures?!" Kagome wailed miserably. And upon flipping to the scene of the crime she stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Shit."

Cidney stopped with her. "Whats wrong? Who is it?"

Kagome stared at the face shot of Sesshoumaru, trying to keep her mouth closed as his golden eyes flashed in the photo. He seemed unawares that his photo was being taken, and appeared to be in a park. But of all people they had paired her up with... It was something out of the stories that they wrote online on different fan sights. Kagome had noticed that they'd had tendencies to take her characters and pair them with completely random people. Two of the most popular pairings were herself and Inuyasha, by far the most painful of all, and the oddest one being her and Sesshoumaru. What they ever saw in her and Sesshoumaru's backgrounds that would make them such candidates for such a ridiculous pairing.

But here it was.

There were printing it in the National magazine, and every Kagome/Sesshoumaru fan was problably going completely wild over her assumed choice of men. Kagome wanted to face palm and just wish this all away.

"Its nothing. Just a coincidence is all. I ran into this guy a while ago, we're.... old... um..." Kagome struggled for wording. "Mutual aqcuantainces..?"

That didn't sound convincing even to her. Cidney raised a brow.

"Well then I can see how you two could be mistaken as lovers."

"No, you... You wouldn't understand this relationship. I haven't seen this guy in years." _Like, five hundred years._

"Well, who knows. There are bigger mouths out there than just your manager's." Cidney said with a shrug. They entered the X-Ray room and Kagome was carefully placed before the machine. It took about twenty minutes before they were finished, and Kagome quietly waited for Cidney to come in with a frown furrowing her brows. She was sitting quietly on the table, wondering how in the world she was going to slog through this disaster of a publicity nightmare when Cidney walked in with the negatives.

There was no frown on her face.

Kagome's heart began to pound in voluntarily as Cidney did the customary, "O-kay," and continued walking forward with the negatives in hand. "Well all of your scans looked clean, nothing of any interest."

Kagome shot off the table and looked at the negative carefully.

"It isn't there!" She cried out. The large round white spot that was on her usual checkup was gone. Gone. It wasn't supposed to be gone! How did it get out? Kagome's breathing came just a little unsteadily, and her mind went foggy. Dizziness swept through her and she was having trouble standing.

"What's gone? Kagome..? Kagome, you need to sit down before you fall down."

She felt Cidney's hands grasp her forearms with bruising strength but the hysterics wouldn't stop.

"He has it! It stole it! Inuyasha has it, he has the jewel! He has it! How did he get it?! He has it!" Kagome crumbled into a sobbing heap. "No no no no, he has it, he has it! I don't want him to be a demon, I don't want it..."

The sound of the door slamming open didn't even register to Kagome.

"Intrevenous Ativan, STAT!"

"He's going to come back and kill me, I'm going to die. He'll kill me now that he has it, he has it..."

Things were going black, and Kagome felt the wave of dizziness knock her off her proverbial feet, dragging her into a hell of pounding hearts and screaming demons. They were all laughing at her, all crying out for her blood to be shed for her trespass, her betrayal of Inuyasha. Something pricked her wrist, and the crazed crowd of demons soon quieted in their jeering. Her body slumped over the rest of the way, and she felt no more pain.

_~*~_

It wasn't until she came to in the hospital about a day and a half later that she felt even remotely close to stupid. According to Dr. Chen, she'd had a panic attack of epic proportions, which lead to a mental breakdown due to untreated Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. There was a thing of chocolate and balloons from the lady sitting in one of the waiting room chairs. Her mother, Yumi, jumped up from her seat to check on her the moment she noticed her daughter's eyes opening.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?!"

_Oh, good job Kagome. You made your mother cry. You wanna try for grandpa now?_

"I'm fine, mom." Her parched mouth made her voice sound hoarse. She cleared it and repeated in a smoother, steadier, all around normal sounding voice. "I'm fine."

Yumi stroked her cheek with tenderness.

"Sweetie, you had a mental breakdown. You weren't fine a few hours ago."

"Mom, how long have I been here?"

"Almost two days. Honey, what happened? They told me you were talking about demons and Inuyasha?" Her mother's big brown eyes were filled with sympathy. "Is this about the well closing? What happened sweetheart? You can tell me, you know that right?"

Kagome put her hand on her mother's as she began to slide her feet from under the sterile covers of the hospital bed.

"Mom, I am fine. I will be fine. And you don't have to worry about anything."

_I'm the Guardian of the Shikon-no-Tama. Its my problem, and I'll figure out what happened._

"Has Mita come in here?" Kagome asked, taking the needles out of her arm carefully.

"Kagome, don't do that!" Yumi Higurashi protested. "Mita went to get us coffee while we waited for you to wake up."

Kagome nodded and went to the nightstand beside the bed. Inside were her clothes.

_Finally! A stroke of luck..._ That wouldn't last. As fate would have it, a shrill female voice protested the moment she began to pull one of her pantlegs on for an escape.

"_Kagome Higurashi, you put those pants down!_"

Now Mom she knew she could persuade into letting her leave. The Trio of Miscreants she heard heading towards the bland hospital doorway.

"I'm not staying here, Yuka."

"Seriously Kagome, drop the pants." Eri said quietly.

"Yeah. You need some R and R time."

Kagome glared all around.

"You're all traitors. No, I'm not staying. I hate hospital rooms and I've already taken a vacation. I don't need another one. Mom, I need to talk to you."

The three girls exchanged glances. It was very unusual to see her take such forceful authority with a situation like this. Normally, Kagome would have loved to laze around the room and do nothing after having an emotional break down, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She slid her legs into her pants and her shirt on over the gown before taking it off and slipping her jacket over her shoulders.

"Thanks you guys, but really: I'm fine. I don't need constant looking after. There is just something I really have to take care of right now." With that, she left three disgruntled friends standing in the sterile hospital room, awkward at such a blatant defeat at the hands of what was once a very sweet, compromising girl. Kagome looped her arm through her mother's and began to drag her out the door, speaking in hushed tones so that if Mia were coming down the hall, she wouldn't be stopped and might have a chance at escape.

"Mom, did you drive?"

"Yes I did, why Kagome?" She asked, her face paling. "Are you in some kind of trouble, honey?"

"No, no it isn't like that mom. Just.." Kagome paused. Her mother knew about the surgery she'd had to hid the jewel, and was one of the people that had signed off on it as a beneficiary in case something were to go wrong on the table. "That surgery I had a couple years ago. You remember that?"

"Yes, what about it?" Her mother asked cautiously, quietly as the turned down another corridor of hospital rooms bustling with activity.

"The jewel is gone. I had a chest X-Ray to check on it, and its missing." Kagome finished quietly. Her mother became dead weight, stopping as more blood drained from her face.

"..What?" The response was almost breathy.

"Come on, mom, I've gotta get out of here before Mia catches me. I need to figure out what happened to it." Kagome tugged on her mother's arm.

"Right, right... But I thought that the jewel would need a surgery, or a fatal injury to remove?" Yumi said softly, disbelievingly. Kagome nodded her head, black hair spilling over her shoulder.

"I know. I don't know..."

"Well now I know why you had the breakdown." Her mother commented off handedly as they stepped onto the elevator that would take them to the lobby, and out to freedom. As Kagome's mother helped her check out, they ran into no apparent problems. Mia didn't pop out of the shrubs and scream "GOTCHA!", the Miscreants hadn't chained her to the hospital floor, and Sesshoumaru hadn't stepped through the doors with chocolates, roses, and a get well card either. All was well thusfar, and sanity was still achievable.

Yumi opened the door to a 98 Honda Accord and helped Kagome inside. There was still damage control to do on the mysterious boyfriend, press releases to get ready for, another meeting to prepare for in another two days, and the ancient Shikon Jewel to find. All that other stuff would have taken the backburner if this had been the Feudal Era. Inuyasha would've been peeved because she'd let it slip out of her hands again and demanded they get in gear and slaughter the demon that had taken it.

Streaks of rain appeared on the gray tinted window as the car pulled out onto the busy streets. But they weren't. Death wasn't a constant companion here, and the worst thing that could happen is a stalker take advantage of her unless a huge disaster happened. Disaster.... What about those nightmares she'd started having this week? The one where she was in a train, watching some woman... The woman's eyes always caught her. They gleamed and changed into an unnatural dark amber colour, like a well brewed beer. She grew fangs, and hissed at Kagome, seeming to leap forward. But she wouldn't move, and it was her own body being propelled toward the ethreal creature in front of her.

Now that she thought about it, she'd woken up in Sesshoumaru's room with not much more than a stained dress shirt, which caused the whole Bra, Panty, Higurashi-Likes-It-Rough headlines. She'd also been absent for about three days The train wreck had happened the day she 'disappeared'. Two parts of a whole came crashing together and understanding dawned on Kagome.

"Mom..."

"Yes?"

"I think I died sometime last week."

Her mother's fingers turned white on the steering wheel as Kagome watched a clouding of expressions rush over her face.

_Yeah... I can't really believe it either.._ She thought as her fingers subconsciously grasped at the flesh of her collar bone.

* * *

**A/N: And so I have updated! (evil laughter in the background) I'm having a jolly time contemplating the humiliations awaiting poor poor Sesshoumaru, and the evils that shall befall our dear Kagome. I'm hoping incorporate a bit more drama into this, I've named it Two Princes for a reason (not just because I couldn't think of another title..... yeah...) If anyone is willing to Beta for me, let me know and I'll send the next chapter-to-be their way when I finish it. By the way, REVIEWS are GREATLY appreciated. If you REALLY want me to continue this, give me a shout out and let me know you like it LIKE THAT! **

**Thanks!!!**

**GS!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Two Princes**

Kagome/Sesshoumaru Ficlet

**Chapter Four**: Oh, Disaster, Publicist is your Name

* * *

Kagome arrived home about twenty minutes after dealing with an emergency meeting called on by her board of designers and her very irritably assistant, whom did nothing but vaguely insult her throughout the meeting. Her mother had driven home after she'd arrived at VIZ Towers, telling her she'd had work in the morning. Kagome'd wished her all the best, but knew she should problably call her as soon as she arrived home and assure her that all was still well. As of the current moment, she was sitting in a private office with her irritable assistant. Kagome had never felt more like a 10 year old in her life, sitting there trying to explain to mother why she told the little white lie.

"First not telling me about the boyfriend, and NOW you go off thinking you can have panic attacks in the middle of the day, admit yourself to the hospital and leave without telling anyone. What the HECK, Kagome?!" Mia raged, her hands all akimbo as she circled the front of her with no particular direction in mind. "Since when do friends do this to one another?!"

"I'm sorry.." Kagome mumbled.

"No! You aren't, otherwise it wouldn't be happening anymore!" Mita continued, leaning against the desk. "You've been doing this for years, since I've _even known_ you! And I'm sick of it! Not only am I sick of it, but I'm sure that Yuka and Eri are tired of it too! You don't make us apart of anything anymore, you avoid us whenever you can, and we have to drag you somewhere to get you away from work as a fantasy writer!"

She paused for a breath, her gaze not meeting Kagome's watering eyes.

"Well guess what. I've scheduled a meeting with this guy's Publicist, and we'll be going head to head with him together, and we'll be making statements. Tonight. So you are going to get on your usual jeans and shirt and I'll haul you over there to make your statements, like it or not."

Mia turned on her heel and opened the door, blowing papers off of Viz's borrowed desk and slamming the door in her face.

Kagome stared after her, trying not to let the tears fall. What she was even crying about, she really wasn't sure. Was it possibly that it was because every word of it was true? Was it the fact a big piece of the past had suddenly blown up in her face, ripping every wound she'd tried desperately to heal to shreds again? Maybe it was the possibility of failing again that scared her so much, the possibility that if this were to go wrong again, there would be no well to escape to?

Kagome's heart ached with the what-if's and could-be's, and as she stood, she felt her legs shake a mite.

_'I didn't used to be like this...'_

Even as she thought it, striding for the door as she wiped away the traces of wetness from the sides of her eyes, she wondered if it were at all possible to change again.

_~*~_

Sesshoumaru strode purposefully toward the door of his appartment complex with a single goal in mind: Find Sensigushi and beat him to a bloody pulp. Ishin Sensigushi was the Northern Demon Lord, his territories being well distinguished as the 'Party Hub' of Japan. Good things tended to happen there more often than naught. Lucky people left with fortunes, and even luckier left in love. Seeing as love and luck were not part of Sesshoumaru's particular conquests this particular day, his presence would be well noted by the third party controlling the luck and love. Each Demon Lord had his own way of governing the demons within his territory, and Ishi had almost a mafia of demons that watched the borders of the territory. His presence would be watched, and accepted as a potentially hostile movement.

As he crossed into the Northern territories, he'd already felt more than one demon presence beginning to close in on him, watching him from a distance to discern his actions. Hostile? The word had some very good terms for Sesshoumaru, as he breezed down the sidewalk for the eagle-demon's regular hangout with a paper clutched murderously in one hand. His self-control was admirable in such a situation. He rounded the corner to Beautiful Soundo, a CD shop that Ishi owned on the side of ruling the Northern Territory. To each demon his own hobby.

The tinted glass didn't hide the powerful demon's unusually soothing presence, and Sesshoumaru pushed the door open with more force than necessary. Two demons of average strength followed him, like bouncers to a club, as Sesshoumaru headed for the swaying straight hair of a very young looking man. He had his back turned to the Sesshoumaru as he swayed in time with the faint beat of a song that was thrumming through the headphones pressed into his sensitive ears before a rack of popular generation CDs.

"Ishi....!" A low growl bubbled up from Sesshoumaru's chest, his body tensing to make a leap at the smaller demon. Both of Sensigushi's body guards hastened forward as another closing the door and locked it to customers, moving to intercept a possible attack on their territory's Keeper. The sudden motion of Ishi's arm stopped them, a clawed hand held up as he lifted one finger.

"Just a sec, Sessh, lemme finish this demo for Gazette's newest..." He hummed before going quiet again. Sesshoumaru flashed forward and ripped the headphones off the demon's ears, spinning him around via one of his shoulders.

The demon before him appeared to be late teens, early twenties, with straight, honey-brown hair that was layered in the popular style. It framed his face, nearly hiding the vibrant red irises of his eyes. Ishi had also had his nose and ear peirced, to better blend in with the humans of this era, and the tiny blood-red drop on his nose made his eyes scream their colour.

"Heeeyy, what was that for?!" Ishi complained, grabbing Sesshoumaru's larger hand and twisting it around with a satisfying crunch before snatching the headphones back.

"When I need help with any kind of social life within my domain, I'll notify you, Ishin. Until then stay out of personal afairs." Sesshoumaru growled, working the shattered bone in his wrist back into place to heal properly. Ishi turned away and hit the stop button on the demo-rack before continuing his conversation, arms draping over a shirt that read NO NONSENSE: ADMIT TO PERFECTION in bright orange.

"C'mon Sessh, y'know I only meant it all in fair play." Ishin's voice was smoothe, high and clear. "Besides, you might as well get something out of being mistaken for Higurashi Kagome's boyfriend."

Ishi reached around Sesshoumaru to grab another CD off the large, wide rack behind him, never letting his eyes leave Sesshoumaru's.

"There is no kind of political gain-"

"Who's been sayin' political?" Ishi interrupted with a charming grin. "MEHbe, you could try 'n earn a bit of a reputation in the human world and work up, like Tazuna did."

The Tazuna Ishi referred to was a demon who had started work in the 80s for a music revolution. Too much popularity nearly did the demon in, but he learned to make use of it and was now a valued patron to society's music listenings.

"I haven't the patience, nor the want for human flings and nonsense." Sesshoumaru responded with a flick of claws waving irritably in the air. He turned and paced the floor of store.

"Its bad enough to have to try to disappear, blend in with the native humans when you never _really_ try. If you are gonna be so deffiant about conforming, Sessh, just make a splash by being famous. It couldn't hurt."

"I haven't the want for fame." Sesshoumaru replied bitterly. Ishi sighed.

"Then what do you want, Sessh? To waste away? To be the unmoving rock in the middle of a constantly moving stream?" Ishi paused to let his words sink in. "Even your father knew when it was time to change, Sessh. Reputation by Force means nothing in a world where demons no longer rule. We are barely making it as it is."

The plastic wrapping of the CD crackled as Ishi removed it and put the CD into the demo machine.

"Besides, isn't that the one you fought with your little brother about?"

A loud crack ripped through the air, Ishi's guards not even seeing Sesshoumaru move. He had Ishin in one clawed hand, the full four-plus-feet off the ground, blood running right side of his mouth where Sesshoumaru had struck him with the clenched fist that was lingering at his side, ready for another blow.

"She has nothing to do with this, Ishin. Silence your tongue and respect the dead."

Ishi's eyes went dark.

"I am respecting he dead by bringing it back up. It was an unresolved tension between you two, and I was both of your guys' friend. He wanted you to take care of this, and here is the chance to make that little voice go away." He spat the blood in his mouth on Sesshoumaru's clean white dress shirt. "You don't need to go off and be an ass about it. Besides, we can't cancel it now that everyone is expecting you there!"

Sesshoumaru turned on one heel before swinging the door open.

_~*~_

"And now, I bring you Higurashi Kagome! She wants to clarify a few things as far as the rumors going around that she's hooked up with a platinum blond hottie!" The hostess giggled, waltzing to the side of the two tables where she would be mediator between the two guests. Two seats were set up on the one to the left, and two on the one to the right. Kagome walked around the large screen seperating her from the audience and was greeted with a roar of applause and shouts from her fans. Her jeans were tailored to her long legs, her shirt, an exotic gift from a designer to better advertise his line, was bright pink with gold splashed across the right side and intricate neon green initials of the designer's name. The only accessory Kagome wore was a brightly coloured knit scarf. She sat as Mita followed her in a much more business formal skirt-suit, with a black pressed skirt that went to her thighs and a matching blazer with a bright pink dress-shirt underneat it. Soft pink-coloured pearls encircled her neck and a pair of black high-back peep-toe stillettos with pink ribbons on them made her look every bit of the aggressive, yet very attractive publicist she was. The tension was screaming in both of them.

"Now introducing the platninum blond hottie's publicist, Ishin Sensigushi!" the Hostess squealled.

A small young man with dyed, honey brown coloured hair spiked stylishly walked around the corner in a snazy vertical-striped suit with hazy silver sunglasses covering his eyes. He smiled charmingly at the crowd as he pocketted the sunglasses to reveal blue eyes, drawing a coo from all the ladies in the audience.

"I'm here representing the infamous Taishou Sesshoumaru, of the Inu Building industries. Sessh has a previous engagement, so I'm afraid he won't be able to attend tonight."

It surprised both Kagome and Mita how deep his voice was for how tiny the man was. The crowd seemed a bit taken aback by it as well, because noone uttered a sound as he sat at one of the seats.

"And now, bring on the questions! Please be courteous and respectful to those speaking with silence with each question!"

The shouting began, each screaming his own question until finally Mita waved for silence and pointed to one of the columnists from the National.

"You there. From the National. Go ahead."

"This is for Miss Kagome! Miss Kagome, please, what is your relationship to Mister Taishou?! How do you know one another?!"

Kagome gave him a thoughtful look.

"Like how did we meet?"

"Yes!"

"Well... It was along time ago, actually. I can't believe I'd run into him after all this time. Just an old aqcuantance to an old friend."

"An old friend like girl-friend or boyfriend?"

Kagome tried not to stutter, but failed miserably until Mita intervened.

"One question a person please. Now the young blond girl, third to right."

"I want to ask what he just asked!"

"......... Just a friend. An old male friend."

Mita leaned into Kagome with a fake smile on for the crowd.

"That was the worst answer I've ever heard. Now they'll assume it was a boyfriend, you idiot."

"...."

"Now, from the back. The one with the lolita dress on." the Hostess pointed.

"Kagome, Kagome! I love you! Thats all!"

Kagome nodded with a sympathetic smile. "Thank you. Really, thank you! I appreciate your support."

Screams erupted from the audience to support her acknowledgement of her fandom.

"Now now now, lets continue with the questions! The Representative from the Mega Sweet magazine!"

"Miss Kagome, we realize that your relationships have been very short in the past few years since your debut, if at all exhistant because they were all simply rumors. Will this be your first official relationship as a successful writer?"

"Y'know what? Why don't we start off with a statement first from both parties." Mita interrupted. "To better understand the circumstances, I think we need a little bit of explanation! So, Kagome, go ahead and let them know about your relationship with Taishou-san."

Kagome tried not to pale at the limelight she'd been thrust into. As it was, she had become used to constant attention that came from having a wildly succesful book series, but this was completely different.

"Well, Taishou and I met a long time ago, back when I had a bit of a boyfriend. Taishou was my boyfriend's..." She paused, not wanting to say brother, lest they explore their relationship even further. "Friend. I only met Taishou once or twice before, and we never really got along well. To be completely honest, I'm not sure how it turned into the relationship that everyone thinks it is."

Despite her incredible resistance to public humiliation, she blushed hard as questions began to explode from the excited crowd.

"Hush hush!" The hostess shouted above the noise. "We still need to hear from Sensigushi-san!"

The screams began to erupt as the young man gave another charming smile and ruffled his hair a bit before patting the air, and quieting the crowd.

"I was never fully informed as to how Taishou-sama and Kagome-san met. Taishou never really talks much about his past, so when I learned my client had a girlfriend, I was about as surprised as you guys." His startling blue eyes drifted over towards Kagome, whom hesitantly met his gaze. "I suppose that Kagome-san speaks for their relationship, but I'm sure that Sesshoumaru-sama would object, and tell you how much he loves you."

There was a gasp that went up, sucking the oxygen out of the room. Kagome's mind went blank for a moment, then flushed red.

"My apologies, but Sesshoumaru would sooner tell me he loved me then tell another _man_." Kagome shot back without a thought. Not only did the girls scream with the outrage of it, but Ishin looked completely stunned.

"W-well, I wouldn't say he's gay-"

"You may consider asking this Sesshoumaru before assuming any of Lady Kagome's accusations are true."

The deep, rich bass of his familiar voice filled the smalll auditorium and completely silenced the crowd as even the stunned hostess turned to acknowledge him. Kagome's head snapped up to see _him_, standing at the doorway of the auditorium in the middle of the aisle seperating the two sides. He wore a pair of faded, designer jeans, a lax white collar shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of gold sunglasses, which he removed in favor of turning his golden eyes towards both parties. And his expression for both of them was far from friendly.

"First of all, it is rude to put words in the mouths of those that will likely bite at the hand that feeds it to them. Secondly, it is shameful to bear one's private life and spatter it all over the pages of news articles without knowing the whole truth of the story. And thirdly, if this Sesshoumaru wanted you to know how he enjoyed his sex, he'd be sure to let you know." He paused, giving what could be called a scowl to both parties on the stage. "Seeing as that is not the case here, this Sesshoumaru does not understand the purpose and point of this press conferance when there is nothing for to explain, nor a point or purpose to the argument."

A young woman jumped up and flailed her hand in the air, unawares of the danger in attracting the attention of the beautiful, white-haired man.

"Can you prove you aren't gay?"

Kagome was alarmed at the sudden burst of anger she saw eminating from his aura as he whipped his head away from the dark haired woman to stride towards the stage. In a four strides, he was there, and with one bound, he'd made his way towards her table. Kagome jumped up and meant to move back if it hadn't been for a long arm encircling her waist and pulling her nearly over the table. Her eyes widened at the feel of warm lips pressing quietly into her own, and gold eyes that watched her intensely as he deepened the kiss she hadn't expected. She sucked in a breath when he nipped at her lower lip and whimpered when a warm, pliant muscle invaded her mouth with lustful purpose. And all at once it was over and Sesshoumaru turned his back to her.

"Any other questions regarding this Sesshoumaru's sexuality?" He all but growled. A thousand hands shot up and the roaring crowd began to press forward. "Then we are done here."

She heard him murmur. Still in a slight state of shock, and a bit brave in the wake of building rage from the stolen kiss, she ran after him.

It took a few minutes for the anger to come through, but when it did, Kagome yelled after him in the corridor of the hotel they'd scheduled their press conferance.

"Hey! Get back here, I'm not done with you yet you thieving bastard!" She screamed with a raised fist. Sesshoumaru appeared suddenly before her and looked down on her with a dark frown as the paparazzi outside began its fit.

"What else is it that you wish to destroy in my peaceful life, Higurashi-san? You've already trampled all over my privacy, my sexuality, and introduced my home as a place for the bloodhounds of news reporters to call a living. Shall we elope to seal this process, make it newsworthy?" He spat, his features in a perma-frown. Kagome felt a bit shocked by his outburst of angry emotion. She'd last remembered him wearing a blank face, stained with the blood of an imposter and no signs of remorse, and here he was standing before her in a rage that was completely justified, yet to be covered with the blood of a kill.

"I-I-I just w-wanted to take back the Shikon you took from me!" She protested weakly. His golden eyes made a round in their sockets and he grabbed her by wrist and dragged her after him, ignoring the cameras as the sunglasses went back on.

"Very well, but after this you will vow never to invade my privacy again with your meaningless paprazzi and needless fuss. Fame does not suit this Sesshoumaru."

_~*~_

They had managed to wade through the cameras, reporters, and fans sitting outside the hotel's rear entrance to get into a small car. It wasn't new by any means, and certainly didn't bear a millionare's signature, but when Sesshoumaru jammed the key in and commanded her to go around to the passenger's door, she made no complaints.

Sesshoumaru grabbed a handful of her hair before thrusting her head between her knees as the road made it's way back out toward traffic, weary of the crowd filing out of the hotel's complex. Kagome breathed heavy for a long minute, trying to bite back the reflex panic that'd jumped up again. As his fingers relaxed, and soon oozed away from her head, she came up slow and peered out the window then back at the white-haired Dog Demon. Inside, the miko was shaking at the building youkai aura in the car. The markings that had been hidden on his face were re-emmerging, dark purple slashes and crimson splashed eyes boldly re-claiming the heritage of an InuYoukai.

Not once on the quiet half-hour trip did he say a word, if not more than stew in his own anger. Kagome truly didn't want to try and make conversation. After tonight, their association would be over.

A large part of her heart let out an almost audible _crack_ at the revelation. During the silent remainder of her trip she contemplated it. Chance? Was it really chance that brought her to see him again. In her remembrance of Sesshoumaru, there was no real relationship that they could claim to have with the minor admittances of unwanted family aquantance. She went through every story she could have remembered where Sesshoumaru had unwittingly appeared and saw no significance. Nothing. So why was that small portion of Kagome's soul breaking in light of losing him?

The car stopped and jolted her out of thought.

"Come." Was his only word. She followed meekly after him, through the swinging door and into the elevator.

It was still silent on their way up, even more awkwardly so when another tenant joined them in the elevator. Sesshoumaru strode purposefully to his door and opened it with a sharp jerk, admitting her.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I've-" came an elderly woman's voice.

"Get out."

"You've no need to speak to me-"

"OUT WOMAN. OUT." There was a loud clatter and a gasp. Kagome stood in the doorway, her anger steadily building over the years of hurt as Old Lady Suzuki quickly came around the kitchenette's archway. She snatched the old woman's kimono and escorted her down the hall to the door.

"Don't take it personally. He's angry with me, not you, Suzuki-san." She reassured the trembling old woman. Suzuki's eyes flared.

"Well if it weren't for my graceful temper with men, I'd be dead about now. You tell him that, next time he comes to himself that he owes his obaa-san an apology." She nagged as she closed the door behind her. Kagome chuckled at the old vixen's spirit, but quickly gathered herself and went to face the still demon.

He was on his way through the kitchenette with a glowing pink ball in hand.

"Take it and get out."

Kagome scowled, feeling herself rise to the challenge as one hand raised and slapped him hard across one sculpted cheek. He didn't even move. But Kagome felt her spirit continue to come up, welling over her and returning her to a former self she'd forgotten about.

"How dare you speak to an elder like that? Even you have more respect than that." She scolded. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You would do well to watch your tongue, Miko. If This Sesshoumaru were any semblance of his old self, you'd be dead by now for wagging your tongue more than necessary." He growled. Kagome didn't even see his hand coming, and was almost dazzed to find herself planted on her rump. Fear coursed through her locking up her.

"So help me, I will purify you if you come any closer." She warned shakily, edging around the Inu-Youkai towards the sword that was resting on his desk. It was whipped up in a second as she clammored forward for it and aimed it at a demon that was no longer before her, but behind her.

He could smell her sweat, hear her pulse pound, and the decades of discipline and self-control were beginning to slip away.

"You couldn't stop me from killing you even if you tried." He sneered, one hand grabbing a fistful of her hair and jerking her head back. Sesshoumaru didn't even wince at the painful cry, but snatched the stolen Tensaiga from her hand and throwing it back onto the desk.

"You owe me your life, miko. If not for me you'd be dead. At least remember this and leave things as they are in an _attempt_ clear your debt."

He didn't say any more as he dragged her up over his shoulder kicking and shouting something about 'manhandling'. Only a foot away was the table. He dropped her onto the table with a resounding _thud_, and reveled in the way she gasped to suck in the lost breath. Before she knew what was happening, he pushed her pink shirt up to her ribcage. His claws ghosted over her skin, gooseflesh raising along his trail.

"W-whu?!" Kagome cried out in surprise, only to scream a second later. Sesshoumaru had wearily cut the sensitive flesh open, pushing two fingers slowly in first before adding a third to make room behind her ribs without nicking her lungs.

"Ahh! Hahhhaaahhh......"

Her heartbeat was beating irregularly as her body attempted to deal with the pain, her lungs fluttering to try to keep time. He did not retreat, even as her pupils dilated and rolled back into her head.

"Uhhnnn...." She moaned, and screamed when he had to push further up in her ribs. Now she was beginning to protest, pushing at the hand stuck into her body with a mite of her power pushed into her hands. He nearly yanked his hand out of her when he scented and felt the skin of his hand begin to burn. She was purifying his hand! Taking that hand into one of his own, he pinned it with her other hand and held her down with his torso. After he had her secured, he got ready for the main event: the Shikon in his pocket. He pulled his fingers out of her ribs and reached beside her head.

"Please....!..Oh......" She was beginning to fade, her racing heartbeat jumping in her throat. The blood coated hand held the Shikon in its palm, two of his fingers brushing a bead of sweat away from her forehead and stroking her cheek.

"Hush, miko.. Its almost over..." His hand drew a steady path down her neck, over her collarbones and breast, back down to her ribs. "This Sesshoumaru will leave you in peace soon enough, little miko.."

Without another word, he carefully pushed the Shikon-no-Tama up into the abused flesh until he was certain it would be secure. The poison in his claws lit up as he seared the wound closed. He surveyed his work before walking into the kitchen and grabbing a towel hanging over the dishwasher to run under hot water. He carefully rinsed and washed his hands, removing burnt flesh and blood. Then he turned back to the table with the towel in hand. The miko had long since passed out due to his rough handling, her face white and already drenched in sweat. It would take forever to get the smell out, part of him thought. The other half watched with conflicted thought. She was struggling so hard not to let anyone see she was fighting her past. The miko she once was disapated under the onslaught of the cameras, he'd seen it. There was no more firey, kick-you-in-the-face, purify-your-ass attitude left.

Timidity and hesitation came with every decision and she wasn't quite as clear cut. Jaded, his brain supplied. An odd urge swelled beneath his exterior, watching her sleep. Strolling forward, he put on hand on her hip, the other beneath her spine to draw her to the other side of the table. Her legs came off the edge, hair splayed in a sweaty mess on the cherrywood table and her ribs bloodied and bruised. The towel dabbed at the blood, mopping up the brilliant red mess he'd made on her chest until it was no more.

Almost as if it were habit, he smoothed his hand out from under her back over her hip, stroking with his knuckles around his work as if to shoo away the pain.

"We'll forget one another soon enough, Kagome.."

_"You don't understand, he is powerful enough without the Shikon!" She protested hotly, pleading boiling beneath the anger. "He doesn't need to turn into you to be powerful!"_

_He'd grabbed one of her wrists jerked her forward only to backhand her._

_"You insult my kind?" He asked coldy. "He is his own master, my opinion of him is not heightened nor lowered any more than it is with his blood. He will always be impure, thus that rock of yours matters not to this Sesshoumaru."  
"Please, Lord Sesshoumaru..." She said again, wiping the blood away from her mouth, her eyes beginning to go red. "Persuade him otherwise."_

_He turned tail and didn't look back as he replied._

_"This Sesshoumaru's decision is final. That dog isn't a pup to be coddled, Miko. Learn your lesson now, before it becomes regret."_

_"I'll do anything!"_

_He paused at this statement, but made no move to face her and continued a moment later._

_"You cannot persuade this Sesshoumaru any further. I refuse."_

_"Sesshoumaru..."_

_Even her soft voice, the one she'd only used twice before, could not change his mind this time. She'd made her choice. It was high time she'd dealt with it._

He sighed and breathed her name. Oh, why was fate such a cruel mistress? Dealing him cards one moment to fold the next and recieve the winning hand a thousand years in the future.

_Fate is truly a bitch, one with far too many mood swings. We told you this long before our death, baka inu._

Sesshoumaru huffed as he pulled her fragile body up and off the table.

"I haven't anything to say to you, teme inu." He replied.

* * *

**A/N: Well helloooo there! Been awhile hasn't it?? So I finally updated, I'm getting back into my writing mode and finishing up some products as I start posting more sketches on my devart profile. I SERIOUSLY HOPE THAT YOU HAVEN"T DROPPED THE SERIES BECAUSE OF THE SLOW UPDATES!!! ;_; That would make me cry. NNNNyways, Please review, constructive criticism is encouraged, questions are always answered discreetly and if you intend to flame: Grow up. I laugh at your boredom.**

**I love my reivewers, as always, and my watchers! **

**Much love,**

**GS**


	5. Chapter 5

Two Princes

Kagome/Sesshoumaru Ficlet

Chapter Five: Memoirs

* * *

The stench of human blood was something Sesshoumaru had, at one time, permanently sketched into his olfactory senses as a pleasure scent. If it was burning, it meant the enemy was singed and dying a painful death due to poison. If the smell of blood was thick and watery as blood, the enemy bled to death. The crack and pop of sizzling flesh was once pleasing to the perfect assasin during wars.

Now it just made Sesshoumaru sick.

Merely because the flesh that smelled burned, the blood that was perfuming the air, was the sweating, dreaming miko lying on his bed as she slept fitfully through torturous dreams. She'd said Inuyasha's name enough times for him to know a portion of the story, but no more than that. Her scent portrayed panic and painted her over with fear in the form of salty sweat.

Even as he stared on for the second day in a row, she stirred atop the white covers that she'd kicked away. Infection hadn't set in, but even pure blood was suceptable to disease. Kagome was human, after all. Sesshoumaru had prepared a bowl of warm water as she whimpered in the bedroom, returning after a moment with a cloth and the bowl in hand. He skirted the bed, favoring left side and unbuttoning the only button that kept her decent. Sponging away the smells that were wafting from her didn't get rid of old instincts.

Kagome squirmed and sighed after Sesshoumaru put a cool hand on her forehead to soothe her.

"Hush, little miko. You'll be fine."

He'd already erected a demonic barrier around the room for her and his safety. Should Ishin stumble into his appartment complex, it would be after he broke the barrier. Humans could pass in and out, but demons were completely banned as the tempting power of the Shikon Jewel poured from the fresh wound beneath Kagome's ribs.

Sesshoumaru slid the cooling rag over her neck, and carefully over her collar bones, through her clavicle. It tapped the burned flesh beneath her ribs, where he'd seared it shut.

_All familiar territory for you, isn't it, pup?_

Sesshoumaru inadvertantly snarled as the thought whispered through his thoughts and jerked his hand back from her like he'd been burned. Ever since that day, he'd had to reckon with his father's conscious and horrible sense of humor. She'd reminded him, in such a cruel way, of his father. So had Rin, but Rin was different by far. Rin grew up, married after an encouraging word from him, and was spoiled as a hime somewhere in the eastern regions. She remained in written Japanese history, but not much more than one or two relatives based on her bloodline.

Kagome..

Sesshoumaru took the towel from her stomach and put it back in the warm water before going back to his desk and setting it there. The vibrations from the cell phone he'd purchased not too long ago alerted him. It sat in the kitchen, its irritating buzzing hissing at him. The number was Ishin's. He was tempted to let it go.

"Yes?"

"What a warm hello from the poor, miko deprived Western Lord. Let me in, you idiot." Ishin's irritated voice growled at him. Sesshoumaru scowled at the phone.

"Not on your life."

He snapped the little phone shut with such force he was sure the next annoying conversation would end its little life. Not even two seconds after putting it down, it buzzed again. Sesshoumaru flipped it open.

"What?!" He barked.

"I have press down here claiming they have reported screaming from YOUR appartment. Now either you and the priestess made nice last night and you had your way, or you killed her." There was a pause. "As your friend, I need to know what happened, Sessh. Neither of us need this getting out of hand."

"It got out of hand when you went behind our back and scheduled that ridiculous appointment to prove nothing. As the Western Lord of Japan, you have shamed as well as embaraased this Sesshoumaru, and as his companion, you've done nothing but caused disaster after disaster regarding this Sesshoumaru's peace."

Sesshoumaru slammed the phone into pieces on the counter so it wouldn't vibrate again as he took a calming pull of air. A whine turned his attention back on his bedroom, and he hurried over.

_~*~_

* * *

Kagome was having a nightmare. That being stated, it was very likely the worst dream she'd ever had, and the unusual waves of hot and cold running through her like clockwork weren't helping her disposition any. Inuyasha was going to tear her to pieces. He was really going to kill her this time, and she new he would because he already had one hand buried deep into the flesh of her ribs.

_'This is mine! It always was!'_ He was shouting as she was screaming. _'How could you give it to that __**slime**__?! That __**wasted bastard**__ that never even gave two__** shits**__ about you?!'_

Kagome shook her head, tears and mucus flowing together over her face as she pulled at his hand unsucessfully. She was trying to say she didn't know what he was talking about trying to tell him that it was a mistake and that he was right.

But Kikyou was standing right behind him, and she was mouthing something.

_'You know exactly what he's talking about.'_

Kagome shook her head and gave Kikyou a pleading look.

_'You know..'_

It was more an accusation than a statement of fact. She knew.. what? What was it?

A cool presence made Inuyasha and Kikyou melt away as she was left sobbing on her knees.

_"Hush miko. You are safe here. Be still."_

She shook when she felt the hand of her forehead slip to the back of her head before moving down her spine to cradle the back of her hips and pull her forward into warmth, comfort, heat. It snugged against her, and spread from between her clenched thighs to her chest, to her head, like a big security blanket.

_You are safe here, with me. I have no desire from you but the pleasure of your companionship._

I. I was significant. He'd said I. He never said I.

_~*~_

* * *

Sesshoumaru's efforts to calm the openly sobbing Kagome took effect almost as soon as he laid his hand over her head and shushed her. He'd known even when she'd asked for sanctuary from his brother that it was going to lead to some unreversible mistake, and here they were five hundred years later. The whole story was quite a story in itself, one disaster after another.

Five hundred years ago, Sesshoumaru had dealt with the pathetic fragility that came with tending to human women. Rin had always been very delicate, catching human diseases that came and went with the turning of the wind. Kagome had begged, and not left his side until he had finally agreed with one condition: Unless he touched her, she would not touch him. Unless he spoke to her, she would not speak to him. And she would tell him secrets of the future. She agreed hesitantly, but only asked that once their bargain was completed, he would follow the rules she'd set down.

Along the way to his place of safe keeping for Rin, they had to go over a mountain pass. Rather than let go of his pride, he stubbornly walked with the shaking miko behind him. All it had taken was a loose patch of rubble that he had easily missed. She, on the other hand, stepped on the looser rock and it crumbled beneath her. The entire ledge began to give with a shudder, and the woman screamed as she was thrust into the depths of the canyon below.

Sesshoumaru quickly dove after her, but was not fast enough. Kagome plunged into the freezing mountain's river hundreds of feet below before being swept away in the current. Not one to be outsmarted by nature, Sesshoumaru followed the river and spotted the bright green bobbing in the river and pulled her out. This was where it began to get interesting. Kagome was a dead shade, her lips blue and her face paler than the usual flush of life that was spread over it.

Sesshouamru snorted and almost dropped her right there to die, wondering if knowledge of the future was truly worth this much trouble. Instead, he began pulled off the wet clothing and pushing the frozen woman into his chest, wrapping the heirloom pelt around her to prevent more freezing as he flew towards the small abandoned fortress in the western land.

Once he arrived, the few other vassals that served him loyaly in the small, but well kept castle took her and drew hot water for a hot bath, covering her with thick robes to keep her from freezing. It took a week before she was fully recovered, but even in the wake of her recovery, the cold water had taken its toll. Kagome had amnesia. She couldn't remember anything but the little yellow backpack and home on the other side.

Sesshoumaru sighed and pulled himself away from memories and was startled to see she'd opened her eyes. He met her gaze with not a word of his own, only pulled back and folded his arms. She hissed as she tried to rise, but he quickly put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. She only complied for a moment, but then she turned her head and mumbled something.

"I'm supposed to know. What am I supposed to remember.."

_Ah. The nightmares._

"Is this Sesshoumaru supposed to reply to such a vague queerie?"

She seemed startled at first at his close proximity but quickly recovered with a groan.

"Kikyou... She said I knew." Kagome hesitated mid-sentence. "I knew.. Like I knew better.."  
She gave him one of those pleading looks again. Another memory was rekindled, animating itself with a life of its own. She was writhing there, on the sheets, with the same look of desperation. Some kind of warmth brushed over the hole in his chest and his hand reacted on its own, brushing a stray bang out of her face.

"It would not be beneficial or practical for you to remember everything, miko. Best that it is left on its own." He replied quietly.

That he was even trying to keep the already determined miko from peeking into the past where his heart lay locked away was ridiculous. She turned away with disappointment and confusion.

"I was supposed to remember...." She paused, and then turned to him with a pained glare. "Which reminds me.. What the HELL were you thinking?!" She very nearly howled, if not for the rasp of pain that took the edge off her scolding. He raised a brow at her before turning away.

"I believe that our work here is done. This is where you will heal. Then, when this Sesshoumaru determines you are well enough, get out. Once you have gained walking ability, we will escort you back to your appartment, only as a precautionary courtesy, and you will have your Lady Chen check the wound for festering. Then we shall both move on with our lives, and never see one another again.

With that thought, he turned and left the room.

Kagome couldn't help but stare after the dog demon as he gracefully booted her from his life. A small part of her felt a bit of deja vu, and another larger part was highly irritated, but as far as the youkai went, he was problably planning for the better on both their parts. She was losing sleep over the dog-demon that she had never intended to impart with in the first place. Not only that, but this was the first time in about three or four years she'd been fatally assaulted.

_Once in a lifetime was plenty, Karma, thank you._

_~*~_

* * *

Amnesia had completely warped the poor confused girl's sense of time and judgement. She remembered only waking up in the Taiyoukai's arms before passing out on the way to the place of safety he'd promised. Sesshoumaru watched as his staff quickly took care of the quivering miko, two of them rubbing life back into her legs, one rubbing her sternum hard, and another two her arms. The skin on each was beginning to turn red with the friction they caused, and a moment later the girl spasmmed and coughed hard as water came pouring out of her mouth. His mouth twisted in some semblance of a scowl as he looked on. The four that were working warmth into her legs and arms stopped and let her heave onto the clean white sheets of the bed they'd placed her on.

They needed no coaching as one larger demon on his small staff picked the girl up and carried her to the stone bath, and dipped her into the hot water. Even as the five in the miko's room tended to her, more of the servants were whispering about the unusual Lord's behaviour. He'd snorted again. Let them whisper.

The next day, Sesshoumaru was fussing with maps in his cramped study, throwing scrolls and other impromptu documents of the like at the impressive display along the other wall without two thoughts to their value. He was highly interested at the time what the miko had to say about the future, and her rules regarding it. As it were, said miko was still passed out on a new clean bed with fresh linens to replace the ones she'd vomitted on. It would seem that all were in agreeance her condition would need to be left for a few days before they tampered with her anymore.

It would take another three days before she was ready to even speak.

She asked where she was, what she was doing in that particular place, which took a lengthy description as she asked more questions. Another two days of questions, she was relatively quiet and content. He summoned her to his study on the third day sometime in the afternoon.

The day he remembered the best.

The miko knelt on the pillow pad before giving him a small nod and sitting quietly with big blue eyes staring at him. Taking no offense to her horribly manners, the demon Lord continued his disinterested peruse of the documents before him.

"It has been explained to you why you are here.. Is this Sesshoumaru correct?" He asked, pulling another dingy scroll off his desk and studying the two side by side. Her black head of hair nodded and her gaze finally hit the floor. "Then you would do well to keep up the end of your bargain."  
The scent of fear wafted into the room from where the girl sat, a mixture of salty sweat and the beginnings of tears.

"...Deal?" She asked slowly, her head cocking to the side. Sesshoumaru had the faintest urge to face-palm but quickly recovered his demeanor and twisted the scrolls back together.

"Indeed. For this Sesshoumaru's sanctuary, albeit temporary, you would share details of the future."

The sweat and tears faded quickly, a now more powerful, rosey scent of relief filling the room.

"I see.." She paused and met his curious glance again. "Well.. What would you like to know?"

Satisfied to see he'd made headway in her healing, he began.

"The Bone Eater's Well. How does it work?" He questioned. Her face bunched in the most unusual way as she shrugged.

"To understand the well, I think you'd need a good understanding of magic. But as it is, I'm still having trouble remembering details regarding the jewel shards."

It visibly irritated the Taiyoukai, and he ran a claw over one smoothe silver brow.

"Very well, in due time. This one is curious though, as to the items in the bag you carry."

She nodded and the room brightened as she gave a sure smile.

"I can do that."

Pleased with her answer, he gave a harsh bark and a servant appeared quickly.

"Bring this Sesshoumaru the miko's belongings." He commanded. The little demon disappeared, and ten minutes later, the bag was in his arms and laid at Sesshoumaru's feet.

For the next afternoon and evening, she described some of the newer articles to him. Some of the more obvious were set aside, and the more interesting pieces were explained. At one point, He'd run across a box labeled Playtex, and after the first four seconds of studying the box, had it ripped out of his hands with the surging stench of emberasment staining the air around her. Upon his request as to what exactly Pu-lai-teksu Tam-poons were, she'd vehemently refused to tell him and finally convinced him that unless he'd like another arm missing he wouldn't ask again. At first he hadn't believed she'd do it; then she'd nearly sliced his index finger off for even trying to reach for the damndable box again.

Thankfully she'd had two fully bound scrolls called books to share with him. In the present day and age, books had helped keep his sanity as he adjusted to the new times. Especially when business had become a whole other world to play in. Arithmetic and English 101 were the first books Sesshoumaru would read in his soon-to-be long history with books. _Inuyasha_was exactly four hundred thousand, sixty six hundred and twenty first book, and it was the one to lead him back to the Feudal Era, where he'd first learned of a book's exhistance.

"You will teach this Sesshoumaru about the letters in the Arithmetic book." He'd requested her second week at the fortress as she'd been on the floor playing with Rin. Rin pouted at him and protested another intrusion on their playtime, but Sesshoumaru had been adament. The time spent with the futuristic priestess was becoming more and more cherished, to his horror, and despite his loathing for humans, she was making the experience pleasureable with her subtle wit and occasionally dry humor.

They were sitting beside one another, one of Kagome's pencil's in hand his and a piece of pressed wood on the table at their disposal as she began to explain the basics of division when the first awkward touch came. As their studying had reduced the first to nothing more than an eraser, they were now forced to share the pencil.

"No, no, remember the times table?" She said softly as her eyes stayed focused on the piece of paper he was writing on. Without a thought she'd slipped her hand over his to pry the pencil from his hand and was surprised by the sudden sharpness of his claws.

"Ouch!" She yipped, wrenching her hand back to the confinds of her other hand. Staring at the wound with intent, she sucked on it for a moment before sighing loud.

Sesshoumaru's nose twitched at the delightful scent of pure, untainted maiden's blood, as it always did, and he spared a glance at her. Leaving her injured finger unattended as she reached for her bag to grab a band-aid, he took it into his own hand. She started at his cool touch and eyed his hand wearily before catching his citrine gaze. The look he had waiting for her made her swallow instinctively and her stomach drop as he carefully put the bleeding appendage into his mouth and sucked gently, his tongue laving over the wounded flesh. Not once did his eyes leave hers, even as the spicy sting of her pure blood made his mouth raw from its power, even as he pulled back to release the finger with an audible _pop_, and even as he finished wrapping her finger with the sticky bandage she'd forgotten herself to put on. She hastily excused herself, and ran for cover.

He'd summoned her again to finish the division lesson, only to have her sit on the opposite side. When she had a comment regarding the work, she would ask before just grabbing the pencil. Sesshoumaru had been highly amused, and with his insatiable appetite for conflict, he would find underhanded ways to tease her throughout their lessons. It quickly progressed over the next week from the study to the dinner table, and from their to the halls as they passed by. It wasn't until the beginning of the fourth week of her stay with him that he'd realized there was an added spiciness to her scent when he touched her in jest.

When he began to salivate after scenting this, he began to worry for himself, and even more so when he started touching her just to smell that extra spice in her usually calm scent. It became a matter of utmost importance though, on the fourth day of the fourth week, when she reached out to grab the slowly dying pencil, that she traced the markings on his wrist that he became worried for her.

_~*~_

* * *

Four became a special number to him on that day. It seemed to be a cursed number, as it was four in the evening when she started what he feared she could not finish. He looked at her with a levelness that hinted at something dangerous, forbidden. Though he'd made it apparent with his one look, she continued tracing down one marking with a blunt fingernail before prying one of the demon lord's fingers loose and taking the pencil into her hand.

"You will desist, unless you would enjoy finding yourself on the floor, miko." He growled, his tone soaked with lust. A spike in her scent nearly surprised him, but another side scolded himself for knowing better. He'd brought it on the both of them. It was his fault that she was now taking it into her own hands. One lick and bite of her lips, paired with the darkening of her unusually blue eyes, was enough. The kotatsu table he'd had brought in was flung to the side as the now sexually charged demon lord flew forward and pinned the priestess down, reveling in the surprised squeal she let slip out.

The joy of the day was that there were simply no words while he went about her body. Sesshoumaru was never one for them, unless the situation deemed long conversations or curt requests. Sex, unless finding stimulus in demanding, was not something he enjoyed speaking during. Though dressed in one of the robes he'd supplied as she'd lived in his fortress, she'd never really kept to the older dress code, and kept on the infernal contraption she'd had on then. Undergarments of the future were simply from Hades, Sesshoumaru decided, as he'd made his way through her outer kimono and under-robe. He snarled when her hands fought their way into the sides of his hakama and caressed the bare flesh of his hips.

A small, _oh_, left her lips and she seemed to find the dark magenta stripes of his heritage most fascinating as she dragged her fingertips over them repeatedly. He parted the folds of her robe to behold what he could of her small body and found nothing he disliked. Her breasts were not so large they were overflowing, but perfect, peach sized mounds of fleshy goodness. Her waist, not so narrow it looked painful, was full of muscle and healthy, fatty flesh, and her thighs and legs were muscled and delightful from years of traveling with the hanyou and his pack. Sesshoumaru licked his fangs hungrily, trailing his tongue over the bottom of his mouth before following his nose to nudge the small breast into responding for him. And it did, speaking volumes as the peak grew under his ministrations and bore him fruit, a tiny pink pebbled nipple that ached for more of his affections.

The spicy scent increased nearly ten-fold and became nearly unbearable to ignore when he wrapped his mouth around the first spoiled nipple. She gasped in surprise and pleasure when he added his thumb and forefinger to the other, cupping the other breast with a tenderness that he only displayed in times such as these. Every part of her hummed as he moved down and took pleasure in the rest of her body, her stomach and belly-button quivering as his tongue danced in elaborate patterns before coming to a stop as her hands found their way into his hair. He rumbled in ecstasy when she began to scratch his scalp. It sent shivers down his spine, especially when she bumped into the shell of his ear, even going so far as to trace them and give them a gentle pinch.

The demon's eyes were glowing with the carnal natures to be had when his claws slipped into the simple white fundoshi that hugged her in all the right places, and he would not be stopped when lifting that delightful stretchy material revealed just how aroused the disrobed miko was. The moment he pushed his fingers into the delicious warmth of the beginnings of her labia she stiffened.

"W-wait.." She called softly, shuddering when he paused just over the sweet bundle of nerves that had her nearly frenzied. Sesshoumaru turned dangerously pink-fringed eyes at her.

"Speak, priestess."

"I can't."

The two words nearly drove him mad with wanton desire. Was she commanding This Sesshoumaru to stop?! His eyes darkened red with lust and anger.

"You deny me?" He growled low and deep, an ominous accusatory tone. She pushed her robes over her exposed breasts with one hand and leaned up on the other.

"Inuyasha..." She intoned quietly, her eyes and scent filling with shame. "I... for some reason... I just..."

Kagome never finished her sentence. Encensed and extremely aroused, the inuyoukai pushed her onto her back roughly with another shrill, and encased middle finger into the priestess with another snarl. His thumb found her clit and began rubbing timely circles over it, each pass raising her heart rate anew as he leaned forward, his tongue grazing her cheek and brushing over her ear.

"Do not tell this Sesshoumaru you have feelings for that bastard hanyou when you left him of your own free will." His voice was the same smoothe tone as it usually was. Inside his control was crumbling. She panted at the sudden intrusion but did not pull away and only looked at him with firm, yet pleading eyes.

"I did what I did-" Her voice gave out when he thrust that long finger back into her and began a slow, sensous pace accentuated by the rough pounding of his remaining hand. She seemed to bite back her moans for a moment as she finished. "To save.. Him.."

She gave into him and fell back, grasping whatever anchor she could get ahold of as the moans rolled from her trachea. Sesshoumaru was pleased with his affect on her, smirking and feeling masculine pride well up as she writhed beneath one simple finger. He himself took pleasure in her tensing vaginal walls, his mouth going dry as he imagined what it would feel like to enter the untouched miko's carefully kept womanhood. Running his fingers as deep as they would go, he could feel the barrier of her maidenhead, still in tact and ready to be broken, and that was all she'd needed. With a loud moan and very nearly scream, she was pushed into her first climax, spasmming beautifully around his finger and shaking violently as he pushed slowly in and out of her to prolong the bliss.

The priestess's cleavage peeked from beneath the robes, struggling to jump out as she took in a breath to try and calm herself as Sesshoumaru pulled his hand away, flicking her oversensitized clit before leaving completely.

"Mark this Sesshoumaru's words, miko, and do not misplace them." He swore softly as he put his face down next to hers. "The only time you truly show love to someone such as him, is when you recognize their mistakes and stay nevertheless."

Sesshoumaru brought his hand to his nose for a furtive sniff before putting the middle finger in his mouth and sucking the mouth-watering spice off the digit. He licked his hand clean, her watching with wide eyes, before rising, straightening his hakama and shiori, and walking out of the study.

_~*~_

* * *

**A/N: Okay, this is my first shot at a bit of citrus. I hoped to capture the moment accordingly, as this is how it came to me when I thought it up. Mind you, it'll kinda stick into a flash back for a bit, I'm hoping to explain a few more things in the next chapter that will help you understand Kagome's position a bit better!**

**Much love, reviews are fuel,**

**Godsspiker!**


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